Surprise teams of the first half: Los Angeles Dodgers
With the All-Star game right around the corner, we’re almost to the unofficial halfway point of the baseball season. As with any given year, the first half of baseball has given us plenty of thrilling moments, introduced us to some exciting young players, and produced some incredible storylines. The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of those storylines, leading all of baseball in wins even with their best player -- and one of the best overall players in baseball -- out of action.
Who needs Matt Kemp when you have the likes of A.J. Ellis (.302/.433/.462. 6 HR), Elian Herrera (.296/.395/.38), and Jerry Hairston (.333/.427/.444) coming up huge? And how about the pitching staff that was seemingly duct taped together with bargain bin veterans? Aaron Harang (3.59 ERA) and Chris Capuano (2.87 ERA), both signed two-year deals, Harang for an average of $6M per season and Capuano for an average of $5M per season. However, in the case of both pitchers, their K/BB ratios are right around league average, which suggests that they might not be able to maintain their current level of performance. Harang is more likely to continue with his comeback season, given his move away from Great American Ballpark and into the expansive fences of Dodger Stadium. His HR/9 has dropped and he’s striking out about one more hitter per nine innings than he did last season. Capuano is still allowing over one home run per nine innings pitched, but he is also striking out almost eight batters per nine innings and has managed to strand 80 percent of his baserunners. That strand rate is about seven percent above the league average and his career average, which means that a regression is very possible and there is a good chance more of his baserunners allowed will come in to score in the second half.








The Oakland Athletics have released veteran outfielder Manny Ramirez after he requested to be cut, according to the team's
When choosing a spotlight series, it's usually a difficult task. Most of the time, I have to choose between a team hovering around the .500 mark taking on a contender, or in some cases, the best matchup involves a team I just wrote about. Well, that's not the case this weekend. I glanced over the schedule, and it took me approximately two milliseconds to decide that this matchup between the Yankees and Nationals would be my spotlight series for the weekend. They're the two hottest teams in baseball, with the Yankees holding a 10-2 record in June, and the Nationals right behind them at 9-2. The Yankees possess the best overall record in the American League, while the Nationals are half a game behind the Dodgers for the best record in the National League.
Every year fans and media members alike spend a great deal of time wringing their hands over the results of the All-Star voting. Sure, sometimes someone not 100% deserving gets voted into the game, but we're focusing on the wrong problem here.