[Dukie98]

Exceeding expectations: The Detroit Purple Gang appeared poised to visit the postseason for the first time since 2012, ending the first half with a 42-33 record and the top record of all wild-card teams. Blossoming star Justin Verlander led a strong rotation with a 8-1 record and a 2.31 ERA, while second-year left fielder Bobby Higginson hit .299, ripping 16 homers with 41 RBI's. After two years of missing the playoffs, the Chicago Mules were squarely in the thick of things, recasting themselves as a pitching-challenged offensive juggernaut. Led by left fielder Del Ennis, who hit .347 with 13 homers and 60 RBI's and free agent signee third baseman Ed Lennox, who hit .323 with 11 homers and 47 RBI's, the Mules took the league's second-ranked offense into the all-star break with a 39-35 record. In the Continental League, the Virginia Beach Admirals entered the break in first place with a 46-29 record with a balanced attack, as six players took double-digit homers into the break. Shortstop Eddie Bressoud hit .331 with 11 homers and a team-high 43 RBI's. The Nashville Blues sported the best record in baseball, going 50-25, led by a power-hitting offense and a league-best pitching staff. Star leftfielder Gary Matthews hit .322 with 15 homers and 55 RBI's, while lefty Bob Shirley paced the staff with an 11-2 record and a 2.22 ERA.

Disappointments: The Minneapolis Penguins' streaks of three straight playoff appearances and seven straight years of 85+ wins were both in jeopardy, as Minneapolis sputtered to a 33-41 start. The team severely underperformed its expected performance based on run differential, and franchise icons Andy Van Slyke and Madison Bumgarner each had relatively ordinary performances. Bumgarner's ERA and WHIP spiked to career-worst figures of 3.79 and 1.30, respectively, while Van Slyke hit a career-worst .269 with a modest .429 slugging percentage. The Denver Rams unexpectedly ended the first half in last place, with a disappointing 36-39 record, as their pitching staff was in the bottom third of the league. After winning 90 and 88 games the last two years, the Atlanta Ducks tumbled to a 33-42 record, with 39-year-old shortstop Michael Young hitting the proverbial wall, hitting just .247 with a punchless .309 slugging percentage, and none of the team's starters sported an ERA below 4.00. The Las Vegas Aces appeared likely to miss the playoffs for the first time in four years, going just 36-39, as the squad's offense busted, with star DH Dolph Camilli hitting a mediocre .275 with 9 homers and a career-worst .430 slugging percentage.

Buffalo's bullpen bulks up: Last year's 105-win Buffalo Fighting Elk squad rode the league's best bullpen, led by closer Brad Lidge and setup man Steve Hamilton -- each of whom finished in the top-four in the league in the Reliever of the Year voting. During free agency, they added two-time Reliever of the Year Tom Henke. Then they added three-time Reliever of the Year Dick Radatz. Then they added Gary Lavelle and Dave Smith during spring training. As of midseason, Lidge was the all-time league leader in saves, Radatz was third, Henke fourth, Smith thirteenth, and Hamilton -- who couldn't even crack the opening day roster after yielding a microscopic 1.12 ERA and 0.77 WHIP the year before - was 29th. The experiment in extreme bullpenning appeared to work: after a slow 6-10 start, the Fighting Elk had a strong May and June to enter the break with a league-best 47-28 record and a nine-game lead over second place Baltimore, The bullpen had a league-best 2.22 ERA coming into the break, as Henke had 15 saves, and Radatz yielded a 0.76 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP in 35 brilliant innings.

Birmingham bungles: The hapless Birmingham Steelers once again squandered a strong offense on a hapless pitching staff. Despite featuring All-Star outfielders Harry Lumley and Reggie Smith, each of whom finished in the top 3 of the MVP balloting on last year's 65-win squad -- the Steelers made no apparent attempt to upgrade their league-worst pitching staff, drafting a series of outfielders and refusing to sign pitchers in free agency. As a result, the team took a league-worst 6.68 ERA into the break -- two runs per game worst than the 23rd-ranked staff-- and they finished just 18-57 despite an above-average offense. Birmingham actually had fewer wins than Buffalo's bullpen, and only two pitchers had positive WAR.

Major injuries: Jacksonville southpaw Ray Sadecki, after a terrific 9-2 start with a 2.78 ERA, tore his UCL, requiring him to miss the year. Las Vegas righthander Clay Buchholz, after going 37-11 over the prior two seasons, missed the entire first half with a torn flexor tendon, but he hoped to return by Labor Day. Hard-luck Cincinnati left fielder Carl Yastrzemski missed most of the first half with a torn hamstring.

If you're curious, here's how Buffalo's bullpen looks: