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We have reached the All-Star break with close to 70 games left to decide who makes the postseason and who doesn’t.
In the National League, Atlanta, St. Louis, Arizona are the three divisional leaders and Pittsburgh and Cincy have the wildcard spots. That’s the way things stack up for now.
Atlanta has felt like they have had a 20-game lead all season, but they really sit six games ahead in the East and have about all year. They do have three injuries at the moment and we all know that the Braves could be jinxed at anytime. From top to bottom though, there isn’t a team in the East better than the Braves. Still, Washington and Philly are still hanging around. Although the Nationals have a better club on paper, the Phillies maybe the team to worry about after trimming Atlanta’s lead by two games in the last 13 contests.
St. Louis has a great three-man rotation among starting pitchers and six hitters in the lineup that nobody wants to face from the Central. Aside from that, Pittsburgh, who holds the wild-card spot for now could easily win the division, sitting just a half-game behind at the moment. Pedro Alvarez is without a doubt their most powerful hitter, Andrew McCutchen is their best player and a pitching staff that holds the lead in a ton of positive stats (earned runs overall, hits given up and ERA among those in the league) are what they do have going for them. Even the injury prone Cincy Reds aren’t out of the fight either and the reason has honestly been balance.
Yet the hottest race in the NL belongs to the West. While Arizona holds the lead and Paul Goldschmidt has claimed a break out year, this division maybe weaker than anticipated. Sure the Dodgers are there and I expect San Francisco to challenge down the stretch, Colorado and San Diego are all within 8.5 games at this point.
Over in the American League, Boston, Oakland, Detroit with wildcards Tampa Bay and Texas would make the playoffs if they started today. However, the American League East is just a huge mess.
Boston leads the league in a number of offensive stats and a broke a club record for the number of wins before the All-Star break. Two concerns is that they do strikeout an awful lot and their pitching is a little suspect behind Clay Buchholz 9-0 campaign Well, maybe there is a third concern as Tampa Bay, Baltimore and New York are all within six games of each other.
In the Central, Detroit has the best hitter in baseball with Miguel Cabrera and a three-man starting rotation that already has 30 wins this year between them. Of course, the pitching doesn’t have to be incredible since the offense ranks among first or second among the A.L. statistically. Right now, the Cleveland Indians are hot on their heels. Who would have ever guessed that at the break?
Oakland has the lead in the West and maybe the most low-keyed team in the whole playoff race. While nobody really makes their offense standout, it’s been solid pitching that keep them intriguing in 2013. Texas is just two games behind and I wouldn’t be surprised if they passed the Athletics.
On the NASCAR circuit, it was a busy week. As expected, Kevin Harvick is going to Stewart-Haas Racing and Ryan Newman is out of job. Newman I am sure will find something. He too talented not to have a ride for 2014.
Meanwhile, this past weekend at Loudon was for those who aren’t the big names we are accustomed too on the Cup side that made news. Brian Vickers, who hadn’t won since 2009, grabbed the win on Sunday and probably puts himself as the full-time driver of the #55 in 2014. The story is much greater since he returned from blood clots that put his racing future in jeopardy a couple of years ago. While driving the 55 on a part-time basis over the past two seasons, Vickers has seven top ten finishes in 13 starts and only two results worse than 18th during that time.
Points wise, it’s a logjam for those trying to make a case for “The Chase.”
Jeff Burton grabbed third and may have had the best car throughout the day in New Hampshire. It’s just his second top five of the year and despite being 17th in the standings, just 31 points separates him from ninth.
In 16th is Aric Almirola after finishing fifth on Sunday. It’s his first top five on the year and he stands 27 points away from being ninth in the standings.
While unusual, the Nextel Cup Series will actually get a week off before going to Indy on July 28th.
