Today, we will focus on what
will happen in the National League’s second half.
National League West
So far, the Los Angeles Dodgers
look like the best team in the division. They hold a four and a half game lead
over the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers’
pitching staff is led by Zack Greinke who ended the first half with an 8-2
win/loss record and an outstanding 1.39 ERA. But you have to wonder how many
more wins he could have with more run support. He has eight no-decisions.
The same goes for Clayton
Kershaw. Although his win/loss record only sits at 6-6, his 2.85 ERA deserves
better. Chances are, he’ll end up with more wins in the second half.
The Giants, however, can never
be counted out. Remember, they finished second in the division in 2014, but got
everything going when October rolled around, and I don’t see any reason why
they can’t do so again.
With a pitching staff that
includes Madison Bumgarner, Chris Heston and Ryan Vogelsong, the Giants have a
starting trio that could rival any in baseball. The bullpen with closer
Santiago Casilla, and relievers Sergio Romo, George Kontos and Javier Lopez, can protect any lead when the ball is in their hands.
The Giants offense features
catcher Buster Posey (.314 average, 14 home runs and 58 rbi), shortstop Brandon
Crawford (.262, 12 and 52) and second baseman Joe Panik (.308, 7 and 33) but
may miss Pablo Sandoval once October rolls around.
There is no threat from Arizona,
Colorado or the high-spending San Diego Padres.
Predicted order of finish: Los Angeles,
San Francisco, San Diego, Arizona, Colorado
National League Central
The St. Louis Cardinals looked
like the best team in all of baseball for much of the first half of the season.
The perennial contenders have held first place the entire season and had as much as
a nine game lead at one point in the season.
The Cardinals potent offense
features catcher Yadier Molina, second baseman Kolten Wong, shortstop Jhonny
Peralta, third baseman Matt Carpenter and outfielders Matt Holiday and Jason
Heyward, any of which can carry team over an extended period of time.
But watch out for the Pittsburgh
Pirates, who swept the Cardinals right before the break to get within 2 and a
half games. The Pirates have been in the wild card game for two straight years,
beating Cincinnati in 2013 and losing to San Francisco last year. As always,
the Pirates are led offensively by Andrew McCutchen (.295, 12 and 56).
In all probability, they will
end up in the game again this year, as they may not have enough to catch St.
Louis.
The Chicago Cubs are much
improved this year thanks to a ton of spending in the off-season. But they
haven’t seemed to gel as of yet, consistently around the .500 mark. They have
the talent, however, to ensure the Central division has three teams in this
year’s playoffs. First baseman Anthony Rizzo leads the Cubs offensively (.295,
16 and 48) and while starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is having a great year on
the mound (10-5, 2.66), Jon Lester will have to improve upon his 4-8 record and
3.59 ERA if Chicago hopes to have a chance to end its 107-year World Series
drought.
The Cincinnati Reds and
Milwaukee Brewers are pretty much whipping boys for this division and won’t
threaten anyone in the second half.
Predicted order of finish: St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee
National League East
It would be easy to say the
Washington Nationals should easily win the division, what with the horrible
season both the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins are having, combined
with a disappointing season thus far from the Atlanta Braves. But don’t
overlook the New York Mets.
After six straight losing
seasons, the Mets are finally giving their fans reason to hope. They were only
two and a half games out at the break and there’s plenty of time to catch up.
Jacob DeGrom leads the pitching
staff with a 9-6 record and 2.14 ERA. Curtis Granderson leads the charge
offensively (.247, 14, 30), along with some help from Lucas Duda (.241, 12 and
38) but the hitters need to improve their batting averages if they want to win enough
ball games to threaten Washington.
And speaking of the Nationals,
watch for outfielder Bryce Harper (.338, 26 and 62) to continue his MVP-caliber
season, and starting pitchers Max Scherzer (10-7, 2.11) and Jordan Zimmerman
(8-5, 3.27) need to continue their strong seasons in order for the team to keep
ahead of the Mets.
Predicted order of finish: Washington,
New York, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia
Playoff Prediction
Wild Card Game: Pittsburgh over San Francisco
NLDS: St. Louis over Pittsburgh
Washington over Los Angeles
NLCS: Washington
over St. Louis
World Series: Washington
over Baltimore
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