MLB At the Break

At the unofficial halfway point of the Major League season, it's been something of a fun season, but nothing too out of the ordinary has happened. Some teams have surprised in both directions, and we will probably see some fun races in the last 2 1/2 months. I've been able to make it to 3 games in 3 different cities so far this year (and would have made it to Wrigley a second time but unfortunately had to work on Memorial Day.) So with the break in full swing, here are my thoughts on the first half so far.

My Cubbies

I knew this year was going to be bad. I had prepared for it when we hired Theo and company to overhaul the roster. And this year has seen 2 feelings: one of optimism of overachieving to 90 losses and the other of despair from knowing the team was bad, but not realizing how bad until watching them. As per the usual Cub team, the starting pitching is decent (other than Chris Volstad) if not solid, the bullpen sucks, and the team tends to leave guys in scoring position. But there have been bright spots in the form of Starlin Castro continuing to do his thing (hit well, make mental as well as fielding errors), Bryan Lahair getting off to a hot start, and the Cub debut of Anthony Rizzo who has been excellent so far. This team could still lose 100 games but they're providing some hope for the future.

Biggest Surprise: Chicago White Sox

I put the South Siders in the basement of the AL Central before the season began. Many Sox fans didn't expect much from this team either, but they have been excellent this season. I had expected the pitching to not be that great, but guys like Chris Sale and Jake Peavy have given the team a chance to win every time out. Paul Konerko continues to be an excellent hitter, and Adam Dunn (as I figured) isn't as horrible as last year even though he's still on pace to break the record for most strikeouts in a season. Regardless, this team could very well be playing a little ways into October. This doesn't have the same feel as that 2005 squad, but they are still a dangerous squad.

Biggest Disappointment: Philadelphia Phillies
I fell for the Phillies this year, and it seems foolishly so. Granted, Ryan Howard just came back, but I figured they would have the arms to tread water. The offense hasn't been able to support Cliff Lee, with him finally winning a game here recently. With the talent in the rest of the division, I have a feeling they won't climb out of the cellar by the time all is said and done.

1st Half Awards

• AL MVP: Josh Hamilton (TEX)- .306/27/75 is nothing to sneeze at, especially on a division leading team. He also leads the AL in OPS at 1.016, one of only 2 guys over 1.000 (David Ortiz is the other). The 2010 AL MVP would have to seriously cool off or see someone get red hot the last 2 months to challenge his numbers.
• NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)- Maybe I'm insane, but this kid has made the leap the last couple years. He's up to .362/18/60 splits with 14 steals and 17 doubles and a 1.039 OPS. This one was harder to decide on since cases can be made for David Wright (.353/8/44), Joey Votto (.348/14/48) and Ryan Braun (.306/24/61) with Votto's probably being strongest with Cincy contending as of right now. But McCutchen's all around excellence is a solid pick, and one I will stand by at this stage.
• AL Cy Young: Chris Sale (CHW)- Tough call between him and Jered Weaver of the Angels. Looking at their numbers they are very comparable in ERA (Weaver 1.96, Sale 2.19),WHIP (0.90 for Weaver, 0.95 for Sale), BAA (.188 for Weaver, .198 for Sale)and record (Weaver is 10-1, Sale 10-2). While Weaver leads these 3 categories by small margins, Sale has pitched more innings and has a higher strikeout rate. He wins by a hair.
• NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey (NYM)- Who would have guessed a knuckleballer would be 12-1 at the break, lead the NL in WHIP (0.93), and be among the leaders in innings (120) and strikeouts (123)? I certainly didn't. It's a bit of a snub that he didn't start the All-Star Game but he's earned this first half award.

Best Moment of the 2012 Season
Probably would have to be Arnie the Alpaca getting into Wrigley to see the Cubs beat the Dodgers as well as making it to Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. Josh Hamilton's power binge in Baltimore back in May is second.  I think third place would be Kerry Wood's final Major League appearance striking out the only batter he faced and leaving to a standing ovation at Wrigley, and getting a snarky tweet from Ian Stewart is 4th (for the record- thought his reaction was pretty funny. Wish him well on his recovery.)

Playoff Forecast

I ate crow a little bit already, but I'm going to open myself up to that again with predictions for the second half. In the American League, the Rangers and Yankees, respectively, will probably end up taking their respective divisions. The Central is tougher to forecast, with the Tigers and Indians looming close to the White Sox. I think the Tigers will come back and win the division though behind guys like Verlander, but the Sox will be in it till the end. As for wild cards, I think Tampa will sneak past Baltimore for one and the White Sox can pilfer the other from the Angels.

In the National League, I think Washington can hold off Atlanta and the Mets for their first East division crown since they moved to the nation's capital. The way the Giants have come on lately, I think they top the Dodgers for tops in the West. The Central is not that good, but has several contenders. I don't know that I trust Pittsburgh yet despite their presence in first place right now. I think the Reds overtake them at the end. For the wild cards, Pittsburgh can probably still grab one while the Dodgers swipe the other.

Here's to more fun baseball the rest of the way!