Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pete Rose is honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The 2015 Major League Baseball season has had a little bit of everything so far…
There have been surprise hot starts from clubs such as the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins, and probably to a lesser degree, the Kansas City Royals. But there have also been some disappointing first halves.
While St. Louis is again flexing its muscle in the National League Central, the organization has also provided MLB with a fairly contentious scandal amidst their scouting department. Then of course, there was the proposed all Royal Blue All-Star squad of the American League that looked like it could become a reality in the closing weeks of balloting. But in the end, less biased minds prevailed.
At this year’s MLB All-Star break, the story lines have provided many journalists, bloggers and fans with a ton of material to produce commentary on. Here are five of the more notable takeaways so far in the 2015 season.
Next: Big change doesn't equal more wins
1. Revamped rosters still aren’t clicking
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Four teams did a pretty fair overhaul of their rosters this offseason to make a push at contending in 2015. Right now, none of them are very close to having the top spot in their division within sight.
The San Diego Padres are the poster boys this year for that theme. They took on Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers, creating an entirely new starting outfield through the use of trades. Will Middlebrooks was brought in to play some third base, Derek Norris at catcher and Craig Kimbrel to anchor the bullpen. They even landed a big fish in free agency when they signed pitcher James Shields to four-years and $75 million. As it stands right now, they have more losses than the Diamondbacks and are 10 games back of the first place Dodgers in the NL West.
Over in the American League, John Farrell and Boston have been troubling to Red Sox nation. They are clawing for relevancy in the basement of the AL East right now. Hanley Ramirez has been awful in left field and their other high profile free agent signee, Pablo Sandoval, has an OPS of only .691 and is getting benched for misusing social media during games. Together, the two have a combined -0.3 WAR in baseball’s first half. Then there’s the rotation, which is the worst in MLB. Newcomers Wade Miley, Rick Porcello and Justin Masterson are providing it with little to no consistency.
To a lesser extent, the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox tried to revamp things some too and have thus far failed.
The Southside boys dwell in the cellar of the AL Central right now. Chicago traded for Jeff Samardzija and acquired Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche and David Robertson in free agency bidding, but have four fewer wins than they did at last year’s All-Star break.
Next: If you draft them, they will come
2. A youth movement is happening across MLB
Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros have a 20-year-old super prospect in shortstop Carlos Correa currently swallowing up big league pitching. The thing is, the Astros finished second last in the AL West last season with only 70 wins. This year, according to ESPN, they are fielding the second youngest roster of any MLB team while holding a division lead in the AL West from April 19 to July 11. Right now, they sit only half a game back of the Angels.
It’s not just the Astros and Correa, though. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are in their early twenties but have been performing like players in their prime years for multiple seasons now. Joc Pederson and Trout might be two of the best center fielder’s in the game today, and both Los Angeles outfielders don’t turn 24 until next season.
The list goes on with young, talented players making the moves to the pros at an early age and finding enough success to stick on 25-man rosters. Again, there’s Bryant and Addison Russell with the Cubs, Devon Travis with the Blue Jays and Billy Burns with the Athletics to add to the list of standout rookies alongside Pederson. All are 25 years of age or younger.
The Tampa Bay Rays were scarcely thought to be preseason contenders in the AL East this year. They have the second youngest roster in the division after only Baltimore but currently reside only 3.5 games back of the division lead, once more proving that youth and vitality for the game are good things to have.
Players aged 25 or younger have accounted for 379 of the league’s 2,521 home runs hit so far this season — or 15 percent — and leading the way is 25-year-old Giancarlo Stanton with 27, followed by 22-year-old Harper with 26 tying the same mark set by 23-year-old Trout.
One interesting juxtaposition this year pits the Cardinals versus the Blue Jays. Not on the actual field of play, though that would be a fun series to take in. St. Louis has the lowest team ERA in the league at 2.71 and the most wins in the league with 56. Toronto has scored 77 more runs than the next closest team with 486 total, yet they will start the second half a game below .500 at 45-46.
Of the 10 clubs with the lowest ERAs in the league, four lead their divisions, three hold a current Wild Card position and the only one with a winning percentage below .500 are the 41-51 Oakland Athletics, whose pythagorean record actually works out to 51-40.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-4Looking back on the last time the Cardinals finished under .500 /
The formula still works. High scoring, exciting offenses are nice for the fans and fantasy baseball, but a stout pitching staff and defense plays a larger role in getting to the postseason, and it’s certainly the model a manager wants in place while playing in October. Just look with Kansas City’s bullpen and San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner were able to accomplish in 2014. Both were main factors that led to the Royals and Giants making the World Series.
Teams that score runs in bunches like the first ranked Blue Jays and second ranked Yankees will need to get better from the mound. Right now, the Tampa Bay Rays have only scored 332 runs (24th), but have the eighth lowest ERA in MLB and have only two fewer wins than the first place Yankees.
What the Cardinals are doing with their rotation and team is a remarkable thing, especially when you consider the pitching staff has been without their ace Adam Wainwright, since late April.
Next: Foreign born flops?
4. Cuban production not matching hype
Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of eyes were on Cuban-born players being thrown a lot of money recently, when in 2012 Yasiel Puig signed a big IFA contract and then in 2013 Jose Abreudid the same. That trend continued in 2014, first with Rusney Castillo being inked by the Red Sox and then Yasmany Tomas signing a hefty deal with Arizona.
In February of this year, the supposed 20-year-old phenom Yoan Moncada signed with the Boston Red Sox. Unlike the other four names, he has not reached the Majors. But his results in Single-A right now are nothing to write home about for an overall investment of $63 million by Boston. Through 41 games played, he’s slashing a modest .263/.354/.388 with only two home runs and 17 RBI.
Comparing him to men like Bryce Harper and Mike Trout who are only a year or two older than him but are tearing up MLB, it would appear Moncada has A LOT of work to do. He also has some catching up to do with his glove, as Moncada has only a .938 fielding percentage in 32 games at second base for the Greenville Drive.
As for Puig, he’s been mostly valuable when healthy. However in 2015, he’s played in only 43 games and most of his hitting numbers are down. Not a good thing for a Dodgers team with the league’s highest payroll, but rank only 12th in runs scored as a team.
Abreu burst onto the scene last year in a big way, but 2015 has been quieter. At the All-Star break in 2014, his line was .292-29-73 and he was by many accounts the most productive hitter in the league. This year, with more depth in the lineup surrounding him, his line at the break is only .296-14-46. Scouts probably have a better grasp on his approach at the plate now and he’s still a strong player for the White Sox, but the drop in power is alarming.
When it comes to Castillo, he failed to crack Boston’s Opening Day roster and hit only .230 in 74 at-bats from May to June. Right now, he’s in Triple-A playing okay, but not good enough considering his $11.271 million salary.
Tomas has been decent at the plate for the D-backs but is a lacking defensively. Comparisons to Abreu at the dish are proving to be untrue, as he has only five home runs and 35 RBI in 70 games. His UZR of -5.6 at third base and -4.0 in right field means Tomas would have been far better off signing with an American League squad to serve as an everyday designated hitter.
There are others too such as Jorge Soler in Chicago or Alex Guerrero in Los Angeles, but neither are being overly impactful. As it stands right now, those two plus Puig, Abreu, Castillo and Tomas have a combined WAR this year of 3.0 but are making an accumulative salary of $40.82 million in 2015.
Next: The return has been a success
5. A-Rod still has game [from the plate]
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
After a belief that Alex Rodriguez got by on talent and the use of PEDs, having not faced Major League pitching for all of 2014 and being relatively inept now with his glove and arm at 39, A-Rod is staying out of the spotlight and tabloids in New York City and simply hitting the ball well.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-3Big Dumper makes big history /
As a full-time designated hitter, the veteran has embraced the role and was a notable All-Star snub in 2015. Rodriguez is healthy and he still possesses the bat speed to catch up and get around on high 90s fastballs.
A first half that includes 18 home runs and 51 RBI might not mean he’s entirely earning his $22 million salary, but A-Rod is playing his best baseball since 2010. If he can stay healthy, he will be an integral piece of the Yankees quest to make the postseason for the 52nd time in the franchises existence.
Rodriguez’ WAR of 2.3 currently leads all designated hitters in the American League. With the Yankees holding down first place in the AL East as the first half comes to an end, his .898 OPS is the highest it has been since his 2007 AL MVP campaign. Fans either love him or hate him, but right now GM Brian Cashman knows the offense is in fairly good hands with a happy and healthy A-Rod swinging a hot bat.
