Top Five Storylines of the MLB Season So Far

Although the actual half way point of the MLB season was a few days ago, I figured it would still be appropriate to share my top season storylines.1- Pittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are everyone's darlings of the first half. A full two games up on St. Louis in the central and the best record in baseball at 51-31. The question as always with the Buccos is can they keep this going all season. Last year they had a record of 59-44 at the halfway point. They ended the season 79-83. They have a lot going for them this season, their bullpen is one of the best if not the best with Jason Grilli shutting the door, a perfect 27-27 in save opportunities. The offense has come alive as well behind Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez. Even their starting pitching has been good behind #1 overall pick in 2011, Gerrit Cole, Jeff Locke and Fransisco Liriano. It might take one more starter for the Pirates to be stable in the pennant race. They have a long road ahead with the Cardinals and Reds hot on their tail two and four games back respectively. 2- PuigmaniaIs there a better individual story in baseball right now than Yasiel Puig? Probably not. He is right now the most exciting player in the game. Off to a historic start, only Joe Dimaggio had more hits in the first of month of his pro career than Puig. Dimaggio had 48, Puig, 44. He is hitting .443 with eight home runs and 17 RBI's. His OPS is 1.218, which is unreal even this early into a career. The dodgers are making a push for him to make the NL All-Star squad, Jonathan Papelbon has been quoted as saying it would be a joke for Puig to make it over someone else. Remember this is the same guy who said he should close the 2008 All-Star Game over Mariano Rivera. What it most likely will come down to is the MLB will probably put him on the last man in vote, which he should run away with, that way the fans and the MLB get what they want. And aside from the All-Star craze, since joining the dodgers they are 16-11 and only 2.5 games out of first place in the west.3- Crush DavisChris Davis is leading the world in home runs right now. He has 31 and the next closest is Miguel Cabrera with 26. He is on pace to hit 62 home runs. Doubtful he will make it there but if he can keep this hot streak going anything is possible. It's not just the power numbers either he's hitting .329 which is way above his career high of .270 last year. He is just one part of an unreal Orioles offense. He and Manny Machado could become the first pair of teammates to lead the league outright in home runs and doubles since Ruth and Gehrig, Heard of them? This home run race could go right down to the wire between him and Cabrera, Davis has to slow down at some point right?4- The Woeful YankeesOh the poor Yankees, they aren't in first place, everyone feels bad for them right? Didn't think so. But seriously the Bombers have been decimated with injuries, losing Jeter, A-Rod, Granderson, Teixeria, Youkilis, should I go on? They have legitimate AAA players on the left side of the infield, i.e. David Adams, Alberto Gonzalez. Reinforcements are coming, A-Rod started his return in Charleston last night, Jeter is coming back as well as Granderson. Teixeria and Youkilis are done for the year. This means it's time for Brian Cashman to go shopping. Justin Morneau, and Alex Rios make sense as well as Michael Young. Michael Pineda is on his way giving them depth in the starting rotation as well. They have won their last two against Minnesota and will be playing Kansas City next all games that should be "winnable" then three against the Orioles in the Bronx. If they can stay afloat until reinforcements come in either trade or their own, they have a shot at winning the division and or the one of the wild cards.5- #HarveyDayMatt Harvey has been one of the bright spots of the 2013 season for the New York Mets, and in most peoples opinions deserved of starting the All-Star Game in Citi Field. He is 7-1, with a 2.00 ERA .07 away from Clayton Kershaw's league lead. He leads the NL with 132 strikeouts and leads the MLB with an 0.85 WHIP. Bruce Bochy the manager of the NL club says their is a good shot that Harvey will start the All-Star Game. Now Harvey may not be eligible for the Rookie of the Year, he is obviously eligible for the CY Young award. This could be a back to back CY Young's for the Mets. Although the record may not show it, Harvey has helped change the culture of the Mets. He wants to win every time he goes out, he is one of the most competitive athletes around. He doesn't care that he plays for the Mets, he wants to win every single time he goes out there. Although they may not be contending this year Matt Harvey looks like he will be a very special player for the Mets for years to come. 
Source:http://floriofacts.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-five-storylines-of-mlb-season-so-far.html

Top Five Storylines of the MLB Season So Far Images

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MLB Power Rankings: Week 5

zimbio.comBy Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x) MLB Power Rankings Week 5The month of April is over, and some things are starting to shape up in the majors, as teams head into the important month of May. 1.) Texas Rangers (20-11) - The Rangers have taken the top spot in the Power Rankings, as their pitching has been fantastic. They have given up the least amount of runs in the majors, and that is a major reason they are tied for the best record in baseball.2.) St Louis Cardinals (20-11) - The Cardinals might be the hottest team in baseball, winning six straight games, and now sitting atop the NL Central. They have played 19 road games already, and are an impressive (13-6).3.) Boston Red Sox (20-11) - The Red Sox are rolling still behind great pitching from Clay Buchholz, who has six wins already, and the return of David Ortiz has given the lineup a big boost.4.) Detroit Tigers (19-11) - The Tigers are rolling right now going (9-1) in their last 10 games. Miguel Cabrera coming off an MVP season and Prince Fielder are both raking, as they have combined for 68 RBIs a little over a month into the season.5.) Kansas City Royals (17-10) - The Royals are only a half a game back of the Tigers in the AL Central, and a (4-1) week, which included Jeremy Guthrie’s first career shutout has the Royals looking like a serious contender in the AL.6.) San Francisco Giants (19-12) - The Giants are back on top of the NL West, as the defending champions are playing well on their six game winning streak, which included a sweep of their rival the Dodgers.7.) New York Yankees (18-12) - The Yankees finished up a 10 game home-stand on a bit of a sour note losing two out of three to the Athletics, but finished it going (7-3). They will however be heading on the road next week, with the injuries still piling up.8.) Baltimore Orioles (19-13) - Baltimore finished up an extremely difficult West Coast trip, which was 11 games. The Orioles performed very well winning seven of the 11 games, with the only blunder losing the series to the Mariners.9.) Atlanta Braves (18-12) - The last 10 games for the Braves hasn’t been great, but they were able to start the week splitting the series against the Nationals at home. They will be getting All-Star Catcher Brian McCann back next week, which will help the offense.10.) Cincinnati Reds (18-14) - The Reds are emerging as one of the best home teams in baseball with a (12-4) record. Their pitching has been very good, and Shin-Soo Choo is having a great season in the leadoff spot with his new team.11.) Oakland Athletics (18-14) - The Athletics started the week with a thrilling 19 inning win over the Angels, and finished the week taking two out of three against the Yankees on the East Coast. Surprisingly the A’s are first in runs scored in all of the majors, but their young pitching hasn’t been pitching like they did last season.12.) Colorado Rockies (18-13) - The Rockies lineup got even better this week with the call up of Third Base prospect Nolan Arenado, and the rookie seemed to enjoy his first week hitting three homeruns. Colorado will score runs this season there’s no doubt about that, but they’ll need the pitching to hang in there.13.) Washington Nationals (17-15) - The Nationals pitching has been good overall, but they are getting no run support, which for Washington will hopefully be changing soon with the return of Ryan Zimmerman.14.) Pittsburgh Pirates (17-14) - The Pirates had a disappointing week going only (2-4) losing both series to the Brewers and Nationals. Andrew McCutchen is struggling only batting .250, and if the Pirates want to bounce back from a tough week they will need him to get going.15.) Arizona Diamondbacks (16-15) - The Diamondbacks had a very tough week going (1-5) with the only win coming from Patrick Corbin. Stats wise Arizona is right around the middle of the pack in hitting and pitching, which makes their record make a lot of sense.16.) Cleveland Indians (14-14) - The Indians had their best week of the season going (5-1) with their only loss coming on Sunday, which snapped their six game winning streak. The pitching and hitting both clicked this week, as they scored six or more runs in each win.17.) Tampa Bay Rays (14-16) - Tampa Bay is being led by the young arms of Matt Moore and Alex Cobb, but their ace David Price has looked far from it, as he currently has an ERA over six. If the Rays want to get over .500 they need Price to figure it out.18.) Seattle Mariners (15-18) - Seattle is getting their moneys worth out of Felix Hernandez, who is (4-2) with an ERA of just 1.60. A (4-2) record for the Mariners this week has them closing in on the .500 mark.19.) Minnesota Twins (13-14) - Minnesota was able to avoid being swept in both of their series this week, but a (2-4) week is still not very good. The hitting and pitching for the Twins are both sub-par, and it would be surprising to not see them over .500 for the rest of the season.20.) Milwaukee Brewers (14-16) - A nice start to the week for the Brewers ended quickly, as they lost five straight, which included a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals, and knocked the Brew Crew back under .50021.) San Diego Padres (13-18) - The Padres after an awful start to the season have been on a roll lately winning eight of their last 11 games, as the rookie Jedd Gyorko is having a good rookie campaign, which is helping the Padres win games.22.) Philadelphia Phillies (14-18) - Roy Halladay was shelled by the Marlins this week, and now concerns about his health are coming up. The offense has been non-existent for the Phillies as well ranking in the bottom have of the league in most categories.23.) Los Angeles Dodgers (13-17) - The Dodgers don’t seem to have a problem getting players on base, but getting them home is a whole different story. They rank last in batting average with runners in scoring position hitting just .222, which has resulted in them being 28th in runs scored.24.) New York Mets (12-16) - A good start to the season has disappeared for the Mets, as they now only have one reliable starter in Matt Harvey with the struggles on Jon Niese lately. They are second in the majors in runs per game at almost five, but the pitching besides Harvey has been a disaster.25.) Chicago White Sox (12-17) - The White Sox are getting no production from their lineup, which is 29th in runs scored, and have amazingly not recorded a quality start this season. It seems like its going to be a long season for Chicago.26.) Los Angeles Angels (11-20) - After another off-season of bringing in a major name in Josh Hamilton, the Angels have struggled to start the season again. Hamilton is barely hitting over .200, and has only nine RBIs.27.) Chicago Cubs (11-20) - The starting rotation has been pretty good for the Cubs, but closing games is where the problems have arisen for the Cubs. In 16 save chances the Cubs have only converted eight of them, and their bullpen overall has an ERA over 4.71.28.) Miami Marlins (10-22) - The Marlins had a winning week, which is something that some people may not have thought would happen all season. Giancarlo Stanton is back on the DL with a hamstring pull however, so the week ahead may not be so kind to the Marlins.29.) Toronto Blue Jays (11-21) - In what has to be the biggest disappointment of the season so far the Blue Jays are 10 games under .500 already, and in a tough division if they want to make the playoffs they better turn it around quick.30.) Houston Astros (8-24) - Houston started the week strong blowing out the Yankees, but after that they went back to their bad baseball ways finishing the week on a six game losing streak.
Source:http://gothamcitysportsnews.blogspot.com/2013/05/mlb-power-rankings-week-5.html

MLB Power Rankings: Week 5 Images

Power Rankings MLB Week 5
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MLB Power Rankings: Week 5 - Rising Apple - A New York Mets Blog Fan ...
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Top MLB Power Rankings Undefeated Week Launches A’s into the Top 5
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2012 MLB Power Rankings – Week 5 - Mariano Rivera - Zimbio
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