This season has been full of surprises so far. The Mets recently acquired Yoenis Cespedes and recently passed the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East. The Mets certainly have the pitching, but we’ll see if the Cespedes acquisition was enough for this team to be a legitimate October contender. What’s just as surprising is the Houston Astros leading the Angels by two games. The astounding part of that is that the Angels have the seventh highest payroll at $146,449,583. As for the Astros, they have the second lowest payroll in the league at $69,064,200. That’s about $77 million less than the Angels. I can’t wait to see how those two division races come down in September.
It’s no secret at this point that the Midwest has some of the best teams in baseball right now. The Cardinals currently sit atop the NL Central and hold the best record in baseball at 69-39. If you want to know how fundamental baseball is played, watch the Cardinals. The Cardinals are still lead by Mike Matheny and with Yadier Molina calling the game behind the plate, this team always has a chance to win. They’ve been able to do all of this with quite a few of their better players missing time due to injury. Matt Adams is on the 60-day DL, arguably their best hitter Matt Holliday is on the 15-day DL, they’re ace Adam Wainwright is on the 60-day DL, and Jon Jay is on the 15-day DL. As long as they can keep getting those timely hits to drive in runs and continue to get solid performances from their pitching staff, this team will be ready for October, as they are every year.
The Kansas City Royals set out this year to prove that they weren’t just a one-year wonder and that they are going to be a force in the American League for years to come. They made a huge splash around the deadline by trading for one of the most coveted arms on the trade market; Johnny Cueto, who will command a high price when he enters free agency this winter. But for now, he’s here to help the Royals struggling pitching staff. After going 14-10 a year ago, the Royals thought they had a budding star in Yordano Ventura, but after going 6-7 so far this season, the Royals actually sent Ventura down to Triple-A just to call him back up the next day. The Royals also traded for the heavily-coveted Ben Zobrist, who has proven himself as a great clutch hitter and is one of the more versatile players in the game today. They made one last splash as the trade deadline was winding down by trading for Kris Medlen; one of the best closers in the game. Many people thought this team was doomed when Alex Gordon got hurt as he is one of the leaders on that team. The Royals, like the Cardinals, are persevering through the injuries to one of their better players to hold the best record in the American League.
For the first time in about five or six years, the Chicago Cubs are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Many baseball experts thought it would take the Cubs some time to sort of grow into themselves and groom their highly-touted young prospects; Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler. Suddenly the Cubs started winning and found themselves in the position at the deadline where they realized they could make a playoff push and became buyers and acquired Dan Haren to add to a struggling staff. Jake Arrieta has been the best pitcher on the staff this year, holding a 12-6 record to go with his 2.50 ERA. While Jon Lester hasn’t put up great numbers in his first year with the Cubs, Lester pitches his best in October. In his three World Series starts, Lester is 3-0 with a 0.59 ERA. I’m confident that if the Cubs made the playoffs, Lester would return to his typical October form and could lead this team deep into the playoffs. The Cubs currently sit a half game behind the Giants for a playoff spot, but with 56 games still left to play, anything can happen.
