Here are the team OPS+ and ERA+ totals so far this season, via Baseball Reference:AL Team OPS+
1. New York Yankees (118)
2. Los Angeles Angels (107)
3. Minnesota Twins (107)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (105)
5. Boston Red Sox (100)
6. Texas Rangers (100)
7. Toronto Blue Jays (100)
8. Cleveland Indians (99)
9. Baltimore Orioles (93)
11. Chicago White Sox (93)
12. Detroit Tigers (93)
13. Oakland A's (92)
14. Seattle Mariners (90)
15. Kansas City Royals (88)
Comments:
- The Angels offense has been on fire over the past two months. They were at a 94 OPS+ on June 11th and have risen all the way to a 107 OPS+, which is good for second best in the AL. Much of that has to do with Kendry Morales, who has far exceeded expectations this season by mashing to a line of .302 AVG/25 HR/76 RBI/.349 OBP/.576 SLG/.926 OPS/135 OPS+. He always hit for a high average in the minors, but he never showed this type of power. He's been so good that I think if he keeps it up he should get some consideration for AL MVP. The Angels are lucky to have Morales and their offense rolling, because their pitching has been absolutely dreadful lately with the exception of John Lackey.
- The Rangers, Red Sox, and Blue Jays have all seen their offenses drop from an elite to an average level in the past 2 months. Since the Blue Jays have the worst pitching (104 ERA+) of the three, it's no surprise that they have faded in the standings, while the Rangers (109 ERA+) and Red Sox (113 ERA+) have managed to stay in the Wild Card race due to their pitching. However, with the back-end of the Red Sox rotation in shambles, I wouldn't be surprised to see their ERA+ start to decrease as well. Meanwhile, the Rays who are solid in both hitting (105 OPS+) and pitching (105 ERA+), haven't been able to string together enough victories to catch up to either the Red Sox or Rangers, but I still wouldn't count them out.
NL Team OPS+
1. Philadelphia Phillies (102)
2. Milwaukee Brewers (102)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (101)
4. Colorado Rockies (100)
5. Washington Nationals (99)
6. St. Louis Cardinals (97)
7. Florida Marlins (97)
8. Atlanta Braves (97)
9. San Diego Padres (94)
10. Houston Astros (94)
11. Arizona Diamondbacks (93)
12. New York Mets (92)
13. Chicago Cubs (91)
14. Pittsburgh Pirates (90)
15. San Francisco Giants (81)
16. Cincinnati Reds (79)
Comments:
- The Phillies offense (102 OPS+) has really decreased in the past two months, but I wouldn't look into it too much. They still lead the NL in runs per game by almost a half a run and other than a big hole behind home plate with Carlos Ruiz (82 OPS+) their lineup is still the best in the NL top to bottom. They have five very strong hitters in Chase Utley (145 OPS+), Ryan Howard (124 OPS+), Raul Ibanez (145 OPS+), Jayson Werth (122 OPS+), and Shane Victorino (121 OPS+); while Jimmy Rollins (81 OPS+) has been back to his normal self of late too. Also, while Pedro Feliz (91 OPS+) has been below average with the bat, he is still productive enough to continue playing in an NL lineup.
- As much as I hate to say this because I always seem to write them off every year, the Cardinals are definitely a contender in the NL. Since they traded for Matt Holliday, he has hit .475 with 5 HR's and 22 RBI's with a 1.318 OPS. They still have a ton of holes on offense, but Albert Pujols can make up for a few weak bats in the Cardinals lineup all by himself. Adding a hot hitting Holliday certainly helps the offense as well. Also, the St. Louis pitching (112 ERA+) is really coming on strong and they have gone 25 and 14 since July 1st, including 10 wins in their last 13 games. I could definitely see them knocking off the Dodgers or Phillies in the first round.
AL Team ERA+
1. Chicago White Sox (113)
2. Boston Red Sox (113)
3. Texas Rangers (109)
4. Seattle Mariners (109)
5. Detroit Tigers (107)
6. Tampa Bay Rays (105)
7. Toronto Blue Jays (104)
8. New York Yankees (104)
9. Los Angeles Angels (94)
10. Oakland A's (92)
11. Kansas City Royals (92)
12. Baltimore Orioles (92)
13. Minnesota Twins (89)
14. Cleveland Indians (89)
Comments:
- The Texas Rangers are looking like a legit playoff contender in the AL and to everyone's surprise it's because of their excellent pitching (109 ERA+) instead of their usually strong offense (100 OPS+). Most of their pitching strength is coming from their bullpen and some of their fill-in starters. Guys like Tommy Hunter (5-2/2.26 ERA/55.2 IP/35 K/199 ERA+) and Dustin Nippert (3-1/3.62 ERA/32.1 IP/30 K/124 ERA+). Meanwhile, Kevin Millwood (9-7/3.31 ERA/149.2 IP/93 K/136 ERA+) and Scott Feldman (12-4/3.90 ERA/131.2 IP/71 K/115 ERA+) have been solid all season long. However, the guy to watch in their rotation might be rookie lefty Derek Holland who has been excellent recently going 3-1 with a 1.96 ERA in his last 4 starts with 25 K's in 28 innings pitched. Also, rookie and top prospect Neftali Feliz has been blowing away the competition out of the bullpen so far throwing 8.2 innings out of the pen giving up just 1 earned run, while striking out 16 batters. Pretty damn impressive.
- The Yankees pitching has gone from below average (93 ERA+) to above average (104 ERA+) over the past two months. It's no surprise that they are 40 and 17 during that span and potentially running away with the AL East. C.C. Sabathia (122 ERA+) and A.J. Burnett (120 ERA+) have really settled in at the top of the Yankees rotation and Andy Petitte (109 ERA+) and Joba Chamberlain (116 ERA+) have picked things up as well. In the bullpen, along with the usual dominance of Mariano Rivera (229 ERA+), Phil Hughes (129 ERA+), Alfredo Aceves (142 ERA+), and David Robertson (149 ERA+) have also been excellent and really solidified the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings for the Yankees. If the pitching keeps up, the Yankees have to be looked at as the favorites to win the World Series.
NL Team ERA+
1. San Francisco Giants (123)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (116)
3. Atlanta Braves (114)
4. St. Louis Cardinals (112)
5. Chicago Cubs (112)
6. Colorado Rockies (108)
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (107)
8. Philadelphia Phillies (101)
9. Cincinnati Reds (101)
10. New York Mets (99)
11. Florida Marlins (97)
12. Houston Astros (92)
13. Pittsburgh Pirates (89)
14. Milwaukee Brewers (88)
15. Washington Nationals (86)
16. San Diego Padres (80)
- The Giants continue to have the best pitching in baseball with a 123 ERA+. Their strong pitching means even with their deficient offense (81 OPS+) that they are a legitimate threat to pull an upset off if they can make the playoffs this season.
- The Braves have thrusted themselves into the playoff picture due to their red hot pitching. Javier Vazquez (10-7/2.90 ERA/171 K/145 ERA+) continues to have an excellent season that is flying under the radar. Vazquez is joined by Jair Jurrjens (140 ERA+), Derek Lowe (103 ERA+), Tommy Hanson (138 ERA+), and Kenshin Kawakami (102 ERA+) to form what might be the best rotation in the NL 1 through 5. They also have a solid pen led by closer Rafael Soriano (165 ERA+) and setup man Mike Gonzalez (161 ERA+). Unfortunately for the Braves, their offense is lackluster (97 OPS+), but if they could get their bats going they could really make a strong playoff push.
- The Rockies are solid in pitching (108 ERA+) and offense (100 OPS+) and seem to be flying under the radar in NL playoff race. They currently lead the NL Wild Card and should be right there with Braves, Giants, Marlins, and Cubs down the stretch.
Defense
Since the playoff races will probably come right down to the wire, I thought it would be good to look at the defensive rankings of each team to see if defense might actually make a difference in who ends up making the playoffs. These are the UZR (Ultimate Zone Ratings), via FanGraphs , which are the number of runs above or below average a team is defensively based on range, outfield arm, double plays, and error runs.
AL
1. Mariners (52.1)
2. Rays (50.6)
3. Tigers (32.6)
4. Rangers (27.6)
5. Athletics (11)
6. Angels (3.6)
7. Yankees (-11.2)
8. White Sox (-14.1)
9. Blue Jays (-15.4)
10. Red Sox (-20.9)
11. Indians (-23)
12. Orioles (-26.5)
13. Twins (-28.6)
14. Royals (-40.5)
NL
1. Giants (53.2)
2. Pirates (32.8)
3. Reds (23.1)
4. Diamondbacks (22.5)
5. Brewers (19.4)
6. Phillies (11.2)
7. Dodgers (5.6)
8. Cubs (-4.6)
9. Marlins (-12.9)
10. Cardinals (-13.2)
11. Rockies (-16.6)
12. Astros (-18.3)
13. Braves (-19.1)
14. Nationals (-22.2)
15. Padres (-22.8)
16. Mets (-36.4)
- Judging by the UZR numbers, it looks like the Giants have an advantage defensively in their run for the NL Wild Card. However, there are no other major defensive advantages for any other contenders, except for the Phillies in the NL East.
- The Rays have the defensive advantage among AL Wild Card contenders, although the Rangers are solid as well. The Red Sox are by far the worst defensive team of the 3 AL Wild Card contenders. In the AL Central, the Tigers have the defensive advantage over the White Sox.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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