The first 40 to 50 games of the season, we all wanted to say it was the Chicago Cubs season to lose, but then another 45 to 50 games were played and all of a sudden, there are a ton of players in the National League, not to mention in the American League.
Who saw the Indians doing what they’ve done so far?! Cleveland fans didn’t see this coming!! Cleveland is the 2nd best team in the AL behind the Texas Rangers. However, it doesn’t stop there. Oh no. Not even close. The upstart Baltimore Orioles might have something to say about that as well. True, the Orioles don’t have the consistency in pitching as of yet, but still plenty of time until the trade deadline hits on the 1st of August.
Boston, Toronto, Houston and not to mention the defending champion Royals have a lot to say when it’s all said and done. Houston has been one of the better teams in the majors, the last month to month and a half, but the Blue Jays have also been resurgent as well. That would be a really fun postseason matchup to watch, if it ever gets that far. There are legitimately 6 to 7 teams that will make a push in both the AL and NL, so the finish of the regular season into the wild card round and so on should be one major league baseball fans should whole heartedly enjoy.
As for the National League, it’s not 3 dominant teams, with 3 to 4 teams trying to find their way, hoping to hot just before the playoff push.
The three dominant teams are the Nationals, Cubs and Giants and because it’s an even years, we just slide the World Series crown to San Francisco, right?! Sometimes, it feels like that though. However, there is so much great baseball being played, that it is really hard to actually hand that on over to the Giants.
With that being said, the Giants deserve a lot of credit. Some may not view the Giants as a true dynasty, but to have your team ready to go in ’10, ’12, ’14 and now poised to make a run in ’16, Bruce Bochy, the rest of the coaching staff and all the players really have to be in sync with one another. There are many constants with this San Francisco team and you don’t have to go any further than Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey. If those guys are healthy in postseason play, look out everybody.
The Nationals pitching is out of this world at times and have 4 legit starters that I bet they feel they can put up against anybody, anytime, anywhere… Listen to these names: Strasburg, Scherzer, Gonzalez, Roark. Some might not know Trevor Roark, but you might want to get to know the pitcher that has a 2.82 ERA and sporting a 9-5 record. Gio Gonzalez is the true #4 starter on this team with a 4.70 ERA. Gio is still trying to find his way, so if he does, I’ll put that four up against any.
That brings me to the Cubs. Arrieta has shown he’s human, but despite that, still has 2.68 ERA. Gotta love a slump that drops you to a 2.68 ERA. Sign me up for that all day. Though, with that being said, Arrieta and the Cubs are getting their spark back a little bit. Maybe not to the tune of the start Chicago had at the beginning of the season, but still enough to win 100 games, contend for the top spot in the majors, with a great offense and some of the best pitching, I think Cubs fans, players, coaches, etc. can get behind that as they push forward into August with an 8 game lead on the Cardinals in the NL Central.
Featured Image by: atn0197
