Here are the team OPS+ and ERA+ totals so far this season, via Baseball Reference:AL Team OPS+
1. New York Yankees (114)
2. Minnesota Twins (113)
3. Texas Rangers (112)
4. Toronto Blue Jays (109)
5. Tampa Bay Rays (108)
6. Boston Red Sox (106)
7. Cleveland Indians (101)
8. Detroit Tigers (98)
9. Los Angeles Angels (96)
10. Kansas City Royals (96)
11. Baltimore Orioles (94)
12. Oakland A's (82)
13. Seattle Mariners (81)
14. Chicago White Sox (78)
Comments:
- The Twins offense has really taken off since the return of Joe Mauer, who is absolutely crushing the ball right now. Mauer is hitting .438 AVG/10 HR/29 RBI/.525 OBP/.875 SLG/1.400 OPS/271 OPS+. Joining Mauer on the plus side offensively in OPS+ are Justin Morneau(188 OPS+), Michael Cuddyer(136 OPS+), Jason Kubel(143 OPS+), Denard Span(117 OPS+), and Joe Crede(110 OPS+). Unfortunately for the Twins, their pitching has been very much subpar posting just an 86 ERA+, which is the third worst in the AL and it could be a season long problem for the Twins.
- Baltimore is surprisingly struggling with the bats posting an OPS+ of just 94 right now. However, it's been no fault of Adam Jones, who is in the middle of a breakout season. Right now he is batting .359 AVG/10 HR/32 RBI/4 SB/.414 OBP/.654 SLG/1.068 OPS/171 OPS+. It looks like Jones might be headed for the first of what could be many All-Star appearances. Between Jones and Markakis in the Orioles OF, they should be set out there for years to come and even more so if rookie Nolan Reimold lives up to his potential.
- Somewhat surprising to see the White Sox as the worst offensive team in the AL. I didn't expect them to have a great offense this season, but certainly they should be around league average at the very least. The only three players pulling their weight on offense right now are Jermaine Dye(113 OPS+), Jim Thome(118 OPS+), and Paul Konerko(121 OPS+), although I would expect Carlos Quentin(95 OPS+) will get things going if he can stay healthy. White Sox GM Kenny Williams might want to look into trading for a bat instead of going after more pitching.
NL Team OPS+
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (108)
2. Washington Nationals (107)
3. Philadelphia Phillies (106)
4. New York Mets (104)
5. Milwaukee Brewers (101)
6. St. Louis Cardinals (97)
7. Atlanta Braves (96)
8. Pittsburgh Pirates (93)
9. Houston Astros (93)
10. San Diego Padres (92)
11. Colorado Rockies (92)
12. Cincinnati Reds (90)
13. Florida Marlins (86)
14. Chicago Cubs (84)
15. Arizona Diamondbacks (81)
16. San Francisco Giants (74)
Comments:
- The Phillies offense has been heating up and they should lead the NL in OPS+ by the end of the next week or two. Jimmy Rollins is finally starting to hit after an awful start, but his still hitting just .233 this season. Raul Ibanez has really been leading the Phillies offense and is hitting .352 AVG/17 HR/43 RBI/4 SB/.412 OBP/.739 SLG/1.151 OPS/191 OPS+. A lot of people felt that Ibanez was a bad signing by the Phillies because of his age and lack or range in the outfield, but he has more than made up for that with his bat this season. His 17 HR are tops in the majors right now. If the Phillies could get their starting pitching and Brad Lidge straightened out then they could be the favorites in the NL once again. However, I think they may need to make a trade to solidify their rotation.
- The Padres are having a poor season with the bats, which is no surprise, but 1B Adrian Gonzalez has gotten off to a hot start. Gonzalez is hitting .282 AVG/16 HR/30 RBI/.381 OBP/.601 SLG/.982 OPS/166 OPS+. Unfortunately for the Padres, the rest of their offense pretty much stinks. Somehow they've still managed to win 9 straight games and climb to .500 and second place in the NL West. I don't expect their winning ways to continue though considering they are below average in both offense(92 OPS+) and pitching(91 ERA+).
AL Team ERA+
1. Kansas City Royals (117)
2. Detroit Tigers (113)
3. Toronto Blue Jays (111)
4. Seattle Mariners (110)
5. Boston Red Sox (108)
6. Chicago White Sox (106)
7. Texas Rangers (105)
8. Los Angeles Angels (104)
9. Tampa Bay Rays (102)
10. Oakland A's (98)
11. New York Yankees (90)
12. Minnesota Twins (86)
13. Cleveland Indians (85)
14. Baltimore Orioles (84)
Comments:
- The Angels should plenty worried about the Rangers if they can keep their ERA+ at their current amount of 105. You know the Rangers offense is going to be well above average all season, so if that pitching keeps things up then this Rangers team will be a legit threat to make the postseason.
- Justin Verlander(117 ERA+), Edwin Jackson(183 ERA+), & Rick Porcello(132 ERA+) continue to be a solid 1-2-3 top of the rotation for the Tigers. The pitching of these three starters is the main reason why the Tigers lead the AL Central right now despite the fact that their once powerful offense has posted just a 98 OPS+ this season.
NL Team ERA+
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (116)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (115)
3. Cincinnati Reds (115)
4. San Francisco Giants (110)
5. New York Mets (110)
6. Atlanta Braves (108)
7. Milwaukee Brewers (106)
8. Arizona Diamondbacks (105)
9. Pittsburgh Pirates (103)
10. Chicago Cubs (103)
11. Colorado Rockies (101)
12. Houston Astros (92)
13. San Diego Padres (91)
14. Florida Marlins (87)
15. Philadelphia Phillies (86)
16. Washington Nationals (80)
Comments:
- The Dodgers lead the NL in hitting and pitching. Best team in the NL? Certainly looks that way even without Manny. They are one of only three teams who are above league average in both hitting and pitching, along with the Mets & Brewers. I expect some of the NL teams bats to heat up soon, which should balance out the 11 teams in the NL who have above average pitching right now.
- The Cardinals pitching surged all the way up to second in the NL over the past few weeks thanks to the strong pitching performance of Adam Wainwright(127 ERA+), Joel Pineiro(123 ERA+), and Kyle Lohse(109 ERA+). However, the biggest addition might have been the return of Chris Carpenter, who in 4 starts has yet to give up a run in 23 innings of work.
More MLB News:
- The Giants are looking to trade for a bat and have some interest in Marlins 2B Dan Uggla. Uggla is currently hitting just .205, but he does have 8 HR and 30 RBI. The Giants are also looking at oft-injured 1B Nick Johnson and also Mark DeRosa. My guess is that they would get the most bang for their buck from DeRosa, because I don't think they'd have to give up as much to get him as they would for Uggla amd Johnson is too much of an injury risk to count on. Along with Johnson, Uggla, & DeRosa; Adrian Beltre, Matt Holliday, Todd Helton, and Aubrey Huff have been some of the other bigger names that could possibly be involved in a trade this season.
- The Milwaukee Brewers look like they are going to enter the Jake Peavy sweepstakes and they could be the best potential fit for the Padres to trade with. I am not a big fan of trading for Peavy because I think his numbers are somewhat inflated from pitching in the NL in a park that is very much pitcher friendly. If he goes to Milwaukee I would expect him to struggle a little more than usual.
- Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee. The Rays will probably use Ben Zobrist, Willy Aybar, and possibly Reid Brignac to fill in for Iwamura at 2B. They probably will be able to make up for his offensive output and may even exceed it, but they might miss his solid defensive play at 2B.
- In other news for the Rays, lefty pitching phenom David Price will be making his 2009 debut today with a start against the Indians. Hopefully Price will be up for the rest of the season now.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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