1. St. Louis Cardinals (51-24, Last Week-1): They are the first team to win 50 games in less than 75 games since the 2005 Chicago White Sox. That season ended well for the Chi Sox.
2. Kansas City Royals (44-28, Last Week-2): Joe Blanton has nearly a strikeout per inning and has been very good for Kansas City in his first two starts.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (43-34, Last Week-5): I know won-loss records for pitchers do not matter, but it is shocking no matter what that Kershaw has a losing record of 5-6.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (42-33, Last Week-3): It is almost July and A.J. Burnett has the best ERA on the team and top five in the NL, just like everyone predicted.
5. Houston Astros (44-34, Last Week-4): Carlos Correa is tied for third in most home runs by American League shortstops. If he continues his play, he could be an All-Star since the shortstops in the AL have been bad.
6. Washington Nationals (42-34, Last Week-10): Max Scherzer had a stretch of 16 straight hitless innings ending in the 6th inning against the Phillies.
7. Baltimore Orioles (41-34, Last Week-11): Now tied on top of the division, the Orioles are hitting their stride.
8. Tampa Bay Rays (42-35, Last Week-6): Chris Archer is a strong candidate for All-Star Game starter as he has an ERA of 2.31 and K/9 of almost 11.
9. New York Yankees (41-35, Last Week-7): Another bad start for Tanaka (blew a 6-0 lead), and if he is hurt, that is bad news for the Yankees.
10. San Francisco Giants (42-35, Last Week-9): Matt Duffy has been all the Giants could have asked for and more after they lost Sandoval as he has an OPS of .840. Too bad it’s an odd year.
11. Toronto Blue Jays (41-36, Last Week-12): It is encouraging to see them not fall apart after the 11-game winning streak. Toronto will need to upgrade their rotation and bullpen if they want to win this division and succeed in the playoffs.
12. Chicago Cubs (39-35, Last Week-8): A bit of a setback this week after getting swept by St. Louis and that’s got to make you wonder if they will be able to play solid baseball through September.
13. New York Mets (40-37, Last Week-16): Called up young prospect Steven Matz and he did not disappoint on the mound and at the plate where he had four RBIs.
14. Detroit Tigers (39-36, Last Week-15): The return of Victor Martinez paid big dividends in a game-tying three-run triple in the 8th off of Jeff Samardzija.
15. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (39-37, Last Week-17): Andrew Heaney pitched well in his Angel debut in a big game against the Astros. If he pitches well, he will be a great boost to their rotation.
16. Minnesota Twins (40-35, Last Week-14): Hard to see Torii Hunter retiring after the way he has played so far with an OPS over .700 and 11 home runs.
17. Texas Rangers (38-38, Last Week-13): This is around where they will finish this season and they will rely heavily on their offense to stay here.
18. Arizona Diamondbacks (36-39, Last Week-19): Paul Goldschmidt’s stats are ridiculous to look at with an OPS over 1.100, 20 home runs and 13 stolen bases as a first baseman.
19. San Diego Padres (37-41, Last Week-20): James Shields has given up the sixth most home runs in baseball and seems like the Padres overpaid for him so far.
20. Atlanta Braves (36-40, Last Week-18): Even though Nick Markakis does not have any home runs, it does not mean he has not been productive as he has been on base at a clip of .387.
21. Oakland A’s (34-44, Last Week-25): The fifth best run differential in the American League, so do not be surprised if they make a run in July, because the A’s have had big comebacks before.
22. Seattle Mariners (34-42, Last Week-22): At one point fell into last place this week, which just shows how disappointing of a season this one has been in Seattle for a team that had World Series expectations.
23. Cincinnati Reds (34-40, Last Week-23): I feel its too risky for the Reds to not trade Johnny Cueto already because if he gets hurt for the rest of the season, they will lose all of his potential trade value.
24. Cleveland Indians (33-41, Last Week-21): Corey Kluber is another pitcher who has had bad run support as he is 3-9 with an ERA of 3.66. Amazing that he is tied for most losses in the American League.
25. Boston Red Sox (34-43, Last Week-26): Clay Buchholz has had a good season with an ERA of 3.68. If only the rest of their pitchers were pitching like that, they would be in contention.
26. Chicago White Sox (32-42, Last Week-24): Three of their starters have WHIPs over 1.30, which is a main reason why they have struggled so much.
27. Colorado Rockies (33-42, Last Week-28): “Ace” Kyle Kendrick has an ERA over 6.00 and has given up 23 home runs. Colorado may not have been the best choice for him.
28. Miami Marlins (31-46, Last Week-27): It is a shame Stanton will miss 4-6 weeks because he was having a potentially historic season (home runs) in the “clean” era before he got hurt.
29. Milwaukee Brewers (29-48, Last Week-29): One of the few players they can get value from trading is Adam Lind with his .291 average and .856 OPS.
30. Philadelphia Phillies (27-50, Last Week-30): Manager Ryne Sandberg resigned in what has been a horrible situation on the field in Philadelphia. Maybe GM Ruben Amaro will be next.
Sources:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp
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