Random All Star Break Thoughts on the American League in the 2015 Baseball Season

The 2015 major league baseball season resumes on July 17th following the American League’s victory in the All Star Game in Cincinnati on July 14th. Here’s a few thoughts on the season so far in the American League and on the upcoming races for the postseason.

We lost track of how many times the announcers at the All Star Game called the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout “The Face of Baseball” or the “Face of the Game”, and while it was way too many times, there’s no disputing he’s one of the elites of the game at just 23 years old. Trout is the only player to win the ASG’s Most Valuable Player award in consecutive years, and he could repeat as the regular season A.L. MVP. Trout is hitting .312 with 26 homers, 55 RBIs, he’s scored 68 runs, he has a slugging percentage of .614, an OPS of 1.019,and has a Wins Above Replacement value of 5.9, tops in the league. Here’s a look at his ASG lead off home run, and some others who have done the same thing in the past:

Speaking of the Angels (48-40), L.A.A of Anaheim moved into a 1/2 game lead in the A.L. West after winning seven of 10 going into the break. First half surprise Houston lost eight of 10 to dip into second place at 49-42, seven percentage points back. The Astros are led by starting pitcher Dallas Kuechel, the A.L. ASG starter, who is tied for the league lead in wins with 11 and is second in ERA (2.23). Houston’s pitching overall has been quite good, ranking in the top half or third in most statistical categories. The Astros offense relies a lot on the home run; they lead the A.L. with 124 homers, but they are 12th in on base percentage (.306) and tied for 13th in batting average at .240. Third baseman Luis Valbuena has 19 homers, 36 RBIs, a .199 batting average, and a .285 on base percentage; first baseman Chris Carter has 15 homers, 41 RBIs, a .185 batting average and a .300 on base percentage. The Astros are reportedly interested in Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto, and while he’d be a great addition to the pitching staff, Houston needs to look at adding a bat or two to the lineup as well.

The Central Division leading Kansas City Royals have the best record in the A.L at 52-34, but another surprise team, the Minnesota Twins, are 4 1/2 games back at 49-40. Both teams were playing very well going into the break, and it’s entirely possible that both will make the playoffs. Hurray for the small market teams.

The Detroit Tigers are usually in contention for the lead in the Central, but this year they went into the break at 44-44, nine games behind Kansas City. The Tigers will be without Miguel Cabrera for up to two months with a leg injury; he was putting up MVP type numbers again when he was injured, including a league leading .350 batting average. Still, Detroit has a lot of offense even with Cabrera. The Tigers lead the A.L in both on base percentage (.337) and batting average (.281) and are second in OPS at .771. The problem has been with the pitching staff. Detroit pitchers have allowed 379 earned runs giving them a 4.31 ERA, second from the bottom in the A.L., and they’ve given up a league worst 98 homers. Justin Verlander has been injured for much of the season though he’s back now; Anibal Sanchez and Alfredo Simon have been mediocre. Only David Price (9-2, 2.38, 115 strikeouts) has lived up to billing. Do you think they wish they had tried harder to retain Max Scherzer?

In the East, the New York Yankees won seven of 10 going into the break and lead the division at 48-40, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (46-45), who were supposedly falling into the abyss this season. The Rays pitching staff is exceeding expectations and keeping them in the race as their offense is striking fear into the hearts of no one. Right behind are the Baltimore Orioles (44-44, four games back) and the Toronto Blue Jays (45-46, 4 1/2 back). Both played great at home but are gosh awful on the road and even a slight improvement there will be an advantage in what should be an exciting four team race to the post season.