Red Sox gain Ground, play better through Injuries

It seems silly to talk about a teams improvement when they remain in the cellar of their division. And that's where the Red Sox are so let's not glamourize it. They are in last place, fifth, the doorstops of the AL East. And yet....

And yet they 11 of their last 15. And yet their outfield only contains a quality major league player when Adrian Gonzales is playing in Right. And yet Gonzales has yet to hit in any way shape or fashion. And yet their two best relievers - on paper - have made only three appearances. And yet Buckholz is having his worst season of his career. And yet Dice-K isn't back yet.

 

That's a lot of things that have yet to go right for this team. And they are just hanging around, hanging around. Scratching out wins against the Rays and Orioles. Sure, they are only .500. But according to ESPN's RPI of MLB, guess which teams have had the toughest schedule to date? Red Sox, Orioles, Rays and Jays are 1 through 4, respectively, in the Strength of Schedule. (Yankees are sixth). Here's another interesting stat: the AL East is the only division in baseball where every team has a positive run differential (they have scored more than they have given up). -The AL East is a tough place to play, for sure. The margins of victory will be slim and the division will be close all year - none of these teams is going away.

 

Fortunately, we are at the point in the season where we'll be playing lots of other teams. And that should be a good time to get healthy. But at the two month mark, we can see how things are shaping up for each of the teams. So let's take a quick spin around the division, which I'll bet will go right down to the last day in September.

 

Orioles at the top, could be a long way down

The doormats of the AL East for too many years, Showalter and Duquette must be chortling with glee. A bullpen full of live arms, surprising starting pitching, and clutch hitting have the Birds 6-2 in extra inning games - a trend few teams can sustain for long. With such a young team, it would not surprise me if the Orioles began to be exposed a bit as we go along, and the scouting reports on their players get a little more robust.

 

Tampa Bay Rays like it Close

Posting an 11-4 mark in 1-run games are the Rays. Just as last year's team survived - even thrived - by playing low-scoring, grind it out games, this year's team is doing the same. But this year the injury bug has bitten the Rays, and if they don't get healthy soon, I expect things to get tougher for them. They are resilient though, they'll be there at the end.

Yankees In The Middle - Can they Improve

This is a confusing team in the Bronx this year. Each element of their team shows promise - and problems. Texieria is second on the team in RBI's but has a woeful .762 OPS. A-Rod is little better at just .802. One has to wonder if the Yankees are already regretting the trade of their star catching prospect as Russell Martin is hitting just .177, although he is drawing walks. On the one hand, you could say they have no where to go but up - but this is not a good line-up right now, at least, not the mashers we have come to expect to see from the Yankees. As for the bullpen, without Rivera, they aren't the same team, that's a fact. Robertson picked an ill time to get hurt, so the depth at the back end will get tested in the second half for sure. And the pitching, which looked so good in April on paper, is demonstrating just how hard it can be to trade or develop starters that will be successful in the East. Kuroda, Hughes, and Nova have the Yankees searching for a number 2 to CC's number 1. Phelps has been promising, but hard for Rookies to dominate in today's MLB.

Toronto -The bear waits for a poke from a stick

Can you say spoiler? I don't doubt that the contenders in the East will play each other tough - close to .500 when it's all said and done- but the teams focus against the Jays could determine who wins the East. Toronto has too much talent to take lightly, and they'll be able to fly under the radar and steal games from everyone else. Probably not enough to take the division, but enough to hurt some teams trying to make up ground.

 

Should be very interesting to see who gets the hottest as we go through interleague - the best teams will need to win a lot of series to be there for the home stretch.

 

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