Taking Stock of the Baseball Season

In a long season sport like baseball, it is easy to lose track of the major storylines until long after they have developed. Thank goodness for the Scenic City Sportsblog to track down nine innings of news from the 2008 MLB season.

1st inning - Three Up

The National League division leaders are the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks. Anyone surprised? The cream has risen in the N.L.

The Phillies are one starting pitcher away from being the clear favorite in the league (C.C. Sabathia?). They are up 3.5 games in the East without getting much of anything from Ryan Howard so far (.214 average with 87 strikeouts).

The Diamondbacks are one hitter (Adam Dunn?) from being a favorite behind their dominant starting staff. Who wants to meet these guys in the playoffs to face Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Randy Johnson?

Meanwhile, the Cubs are the best team in the National League. They have a legitimate Cy Young contender (Carlos Zambrano), a legit closer (Kerry Wood) and a tough line-up with established names (Soriano, Lee and Ramirez) and exciting new-comers (Fukodome and Soto). Could this be the year for the cursed Cubs?

2nd inning - Three Down

The Rockies, Indians and Tigers entered the season with great promise after last year's success (Rockies & Tribe) or big trades/signings (Tigers). They have all flopped. The Rockies have suffered from injuries and players coming back down to Earth after last year's magical post-season run. Only the Mariners have a worse record than the defending National League champions.

The Indians are simply not hitting. Their team average is .241 right now, 29th in the league. Only the Washington Nationals hit worse. Despite Cliff Lee's breakout start, the Indians need to refill Joe Boo's rum quickly if they are going to catch the White Sox in the Central.

The Tigers are the season's greatest mystery. They are now 10 games back of the Sox, 10 games under .500. They are in the top half of the league in most major offensive categories, but seem to be feast or famine with their offensive output. Their pitching, however, is another story. They are 12th in the league in ERA and the only team without a complete game from a starter. Nate Robertson cannot get anyone out, Kenny Rogers is starting to look less like the The Gambler and more like The Coward of the County, and Jeremy Bonderman is out for the year with a blood clot. The D-Train has been the Little Engine That Can't so far in Motown.

3rd inning - Warning Track Power

Besides the Tigers, a few other pre-season darlings have disappointed in the first half of the season. The Atlanta Braves are a remarkable 7-21 on the road and even worse in one run games (3-17). The Milwaukee Brewers got off to a slow start, but have battled back to contention in the N.L. Central. The New York Yankees and Mets both look old and vulnerable before the heat of summer has even set in.

If any of these teams have a real chance of contending in October, it is the Milwaukee Brewers. They have good starting pitching with a great ace in Ben Sheets. The Eric Gagne signing was the biggest mistake in Milwaukee this side of Bob Uecker's speedo, but the Brew Crew seems to be righting the ship with Solomon Torres closing the door and a line-up of slugger after right-handed slugger.

Two of the surprises of 2008 so far are running out of gas in early June. The Florida teams in Tampa Bay and Miami got off to great starts, but the Rays seem to be coming unglued after fights against Boston and among themselves (yesterday in Texas), while the Marlins lost 6 of 8 before winning the weekend's games against Cincinnati.

4th inning - Can of Corn

While several teams have been up and down throughout the first part of the baseball season, two of the early favorites in the American League are rolling along yet again. The Boston Red Sox have the best record in the American League with a 26-6 home record. What is remarkable about the BoSox so far is their ability to overcome problems with their superstars. Big Papi is not hitting - J.D. Drew has picked him up. Josh Beckett has been hurting - Dice-K and Jon Lester have picked up the slack.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in California, U.S.A. are already pulling away in the A.L. West. The Angels have six legitimate starting pitchers (just like the BoSox), four big-time outfielders and one of the best managers in the game in Mike Scioscia. The two teams seem to be on a collision course for the pennant (I'm not sold on the White Sox yet).

5th inning - Ladies Love the Long Ball

The home run leaders through 60+ games are a odd collection of names. Josh Hamilton? Dan Uggla? Carlos Quentin? While traditional sluggers like Lance Berkman, Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn and Jason Giambi are near the top of their respective leagues in dingers, the emergence of guys like Hamilton, Uggla and Quentin remind us that the Steriod Era is in baseball's past.

The only player with over 20 home runs so far is Philadelphia's Chase Utley. The second baseman might be the best young player in baseball (so says President Bush) and 2008 has been his coming out party. Playing in the shadow of MVPs Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, Utley is quietly in contention for the Triple Crown as he leads the league in home runs and RBI. While Chipper and Berkman have garnered headlines in the opening months of the season, Utley is the early favorite for the league MVP on a championship contending ball club.

6th inning - Home Field Advantage

Weird, isn't it? Right now, there are only three teams (Angels, Phillies and the surprising Cardinals) who have a road record over .500. While baseball does give its home team the advantage of batting last, there is hardly an explanation for the disparity in home and road records throughout the MLB. Is it youth? Coincidence? How do you explain it?

7th inning - Time to Stretch

One of the emerging storylines of the season is the tiny strike zone being used by umpires in both leagues. Games are longer and pitch counts are up so far as the zone has narrowed from black to black while basically being the same from knees to belt.

The source of the change is the rating system used for the umpires that encourages them to call balls rather than strikes. The QuesTec system used by Major League Baseball determines whether each pitch is a ball or strike. If an umpire calls a ball (according to Q-Tec) a strike, he gets a demerit for missing the call. If he calls a strikes (according to Q-Tec) a ball, there is no penalty. The lesson? If the pitch is close, call it a ball. There is no longer much personality among umpire's strike zones (that guy has a wide zone, that guy won't call it low, etc.) as everyone is held to the QuesTec standard.

8th inning - Call to the Bullpen

The following players are currently on the Disabled List or out hurt:

Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Travis Hafner, Matt Holliday, Jeremy Bonderman, Gary Sheffield, Kelvim Escobar, Chone Figgins, Rafael Furcal, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Eric Gagne, Moises Alou, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Mike Sweeney, Frank Thomas, Xavier Nady, Jake Peavy, Jason Isringhausen, Chris Carpenter (nice name), Mark Mulder, Rick Ankiel, Carlos Pena, Michael Young, Hank Blalock, Shannon Stewart, Paul Lo Duca, Ryan Zimmerman and Chad Cordero.

(Exhale).

Will someone get these guys some HGH or greenies ASAP? I'm not sure how the Washington Nationals are fielding a team right now with the number of injuries in their dugout (five opening day starters are on the Nats' D.L.). The baseball season has always been a grind, but this year it seems to be grinding away some the game's best players.

9th inning - Start the Bus

The long baseball season gets really long when you are playing for pride in June. The Mariners, Royals, Tigers, Padres, Nationals, Giants and Rockies can already start thinking about 2009.