The Divisional Races

As we head into the weekend, a look at the races in each of the 6 divisional.

National League East

The Phils have a strong hold
that only injuries or their own bad play will erase.

They are the best bet of the division leaders with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels at the top of their rotation.
Their infield of Rollins, Utley and Howard and Feliz may be the most dangerous.


National League Central

This one is a dog fight, and will b e because neither the Cubbies or the Cards have knock down drag out good rotations, but their offenses make up for it. Both have war tested managers in Piniella and LaRussa, and both teams have flaws.

My feeling is that the Cards have a good run still in them, and the Cubs bullpen will fail them when it matters the most. Edge to the Cards, but this will go down to the wire.


National League West

Another easy one, but the Dodgers have tapered off from their torrid start, partly due to having Manny Ramirez back in the line up. It's as if the rest of the team said, good, " let him carry us for awhile"




American League East

The other dog fight race, but unless the Red Sox get their pitching to produce at a higher level they will have troubles catching and passing the Yanks, and do not forget the Rays, who if Kazmir and Shields get hot, watch out, they will make it tougher on either the Sox or the Bronx Bombers.
My guess is, the Bombers will succeed, they are just out hitting any shaky pitching they are getting, and Rivera closes 99 % of anything he touches.




American League Central

The Tigers added Washburn, but the White Sox added Peavy, plus Carlos Quentin is getting his groove back. Plus, the teams are separated by one game presently, but if the Sox get a healthy Peavy in a few weeks, and they can ignite their offense even higher, my guess is they will pass the Tigers in September. They do need Mark Buehrle, and John Danks to step it up though.
I have this feeling the Tigers have peaked, and may not have another speed to gear up to, so the White Sox may have the edge.



American League West

The Angels are the second best perched team at the moment, despite a wonkie bullpen, and injuries woes to Torji Hunter, and Vladdy Guerrero.
I think the Rangers and Seattle are having fine years, and with at least one top of the rotation arm in Texas, and a healthy Josh Hamilton, it would be a different story. But Kinsler's hurt, they got hurt by a poor start by Chris Davis, and just do not have the experience on the mound to compete. Joe Saunders and John Lackey may be having off years, so is Ervin Santana, but they manage to cobble together a rotation that stacks up in the division, so they should win it in the west.



As for the 2 wild cards, my hunch is the rotation of the San Fran Giants will guide them through, but the Rockies have that " hey, we've got another great run in the tank, so don't discount us look ", but pitching in September, and adjusting rotations for key match ups are in SF favour.
In the American League, my hunch is that Tampa is going to slip by Boston and be the wild card rep.

Sorry it's been awhile between blogs, had some computer hardware issues just resolved, so expect more in the coming days.

Enjoy