May Review
The month of May has come to an end & the division races are starting to shake themselves out. In the NL, the
San Francisco Giants are proving to be top of the class posting a 30-17 record (the best in baseball) while carrying a 4 & half game lead over 2nd place
Colorado.
Jake Peavy recently went on the DL for the
Giants but the combination of
Madison Bumgarner,
Matt Cain &
Jeff Samardzija have posted a record of 18-6 with a sub 3 ERA. NL Central is a free for all with every team not named
Milwaukee having lead at some point. Currently the
Votto-less
Reds sit atop the division with a 24-20 record but
St. Louis &
Chicago are not far behind. The
Cubs got off to a slow start & have dealt with numerous injuries but their young bats are starting to come alive so look for them to push
Cincy the rest of the way. In the East things have been up & down for
Miami,
Washington &
Atlanta. The
Marlins finish the month where they started (in 1st place) but they were hot & cold in month starting May off losing 11 of their first 14. They then turned around & got hot again winning 12 of their last 14. The
Nationals sit only a game behind which is quite remarkable considering the numerous injuries they have had to fight through. After a rough May, the Nats got
Harper back & also their wins turning in a 17 win month.
Pittsburgh 2B Neil Walker won Player of the Month with an impressive .358 average, 7 HR, 22 RBIs & 22 runs scored & is now tied for 3rd in HRs in the NL with 11. The
Dodger's rookie
SS Corey Seager won Rooke of the Month honors thanks to .306 average, 2 HRs & 24 RBIs. The Pitcher of the Month comes from a bit of a surprise starting pitcher as
San Diego's Odrisamer Despaigne had himself a strong month collecting 5 wins & 0 losses with a low ERA 1.47. If the
Padres wanna catch the
Giants they will need more of those type of performances from their pitching staff
In the American League things have changed in the AL Central. The
White Sox were the best team in baseball after April but
Jose Abreu's time on the DL plummetted them in the standings. They lost promising young arm
Carlos Rodon for 3 months & so are now down 3 starting pitchers. It will be a tough climb for them the rest of the way.
Cleveland has surged ahead in the central thanks in large part to AL Pitcher of the Month & former
Atlanta Brave Mike Minor. Minor has come back with a vengeance since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015 when he was traded away to
Arizona & finished with a decent year. The
D'Backs traded him to
Cleveland in the offseason for his final season of arbitration & man is he earning a big pay day this offseason. He leads the league with an 8-0 record (going 5-0 in May), posted 2.33 ERA in month of May while batters hit only .188 against him. Add in a rotation of
Corey Kluber,
Johnny Cueto,
Trevor Bauer & now
Mike Minor will make for a very tough team to handle in 2016. In the East,
Toronto has pulled ahead of
Tampa Bay &
Boston thanks to a lineup that gets on base. The
Jays have the top OBP in the AL at .343. Their pitching has been so-so but their lineup will carry them a long way. In the West,
Oakland &
Texas are dueling for the top spot. Young
Rangers 2B Roughned Odor is having himself a season & won Player of the Month honors after batting .372 with 6 HRs & 26 RBIs. The
Rangers have done it with a subpar year out of
Yu Darvish so far something that is due for change which could mean a strong few months ahead for
Texas.
Oakland's offense has struggled but their pitching has been ridiculous.
Chris Basset has been outstanding &
Sean Doolittle might be the best closer in the Major Leagues right now.
Houston sits in the bottom of the standings but their young
SS Carlos Correa has been outstanding winning June's Rookie of the Month after hitting .340, 6 HRs & 23 RBIs. They will need more of that if they wanna catch
Texas &
Oakland.