T1000
Legend
Halfway through the year and there’s been lots of storylines. First we have the crackdown on spider tack, a substance pitchers use to artificially increase the spin rates on their pitches. Most hitters can’t handle high spin rate fastballs up in the zone so the tack helps there but it also helps with the break on their sliders/curves. Since the crackdown started offense is up (except in New York) and some guys are on ridiculous hit streaks (Gallo and Schwarber to name 2).
2nd we have a lot of surprises in the standings. In the AL East the Yankees have been a disaster. On the other hand Boston has been fantastic. They were expected to be rebuilding but instead have the best record in the AL. In the central the Indians are in second despite trading away their best players last year and over the offseason. The twins have had a disappointing year currently sitting in 4th. The white Sox despite losing two of their stud young outfielders sit in first. Out west the Astros are in first without trash cans or spider tack aiding them. Seattle sits 3 games above .500 and has a plethora of young talent in the minors (Kelenic, Rodriguez, Hancock, Kirby, Marte, and Raleigh).
In the NL the Mets lead the East but only because everyone else sucks. Everyone in this division has been a disappointment. DeGrom is currently having the greatest single pitching season and that’s pretty much the only positive thing to take away from that division. Forum favorite Patrick Corbin has had a rough year but has shown promise over his last three starts. The Brewers lead the central backed by a three headed monster top of the rotation and a surging offense. Urias and Adames are former top prospects for the Padres and rays. They’re having great seasons so far with the brew crew. The cardinals have been in a free fall since starting out hot. Out west the giants surprisingly have the best record in all of baseball. They’ve found the fountain of youth and guys like Crawford, Longoria (currently hurt), wood, descalfani, and gausman are having career years. The Rockies for some reason have their own thread on TTW, that’s been the highlight of their whole season.
Unfortunately there’s been two criminal cases involving high profile players. Ozuna (not to be confused with Osuna) was arrested for a domestic violence incident in May. Bauer is currently under a police investigation for the same reason. Both players are likely to receive suspensions regardless of the legal outcome. There was also the whole all star game location debacle that exposed the hypocrisy of the mlb. For forum rules reasons I’ll leave it at that.
2nd we have a lot of surprises in the standings. In the AL East the Yankees have been a disaster. On the other hand Boston has been fantastic. They were expected to be rebuilding but instead have the best record in the AL. In the central the Indians are in second despite trading away their best players last year and over the offseason. The twins have had a disappointing year currently sitting in 4th. The white Sox despite losing two of their stud young outfielders sit in first. Out west the Astros are in first without trash cans or spider tack aiding them. Seattle sits 3 games above .500 and has a plethora of young talent in the minors (Kelenic, Rodriguez, Hancock, Kirby, Marte, and Raleigh).
In the NL the Mets lead the East but only because everyone else sucks. Everyone in this division has been a disappointment. DeGrom is currently having the greatest single pitching season and that’s pretty much the only positive thing to take away from that division. Forum favorite Patrick Corbin has had a rough year but has shown promise over his last three starts. The Brewers lead the central backed by a three headed monster top of the rotation and a surging offense. Urias and Adames are former top prospects for the Padres and rays. They’re having great seasons so far with the brew crew. The cardinals have been in a free fall since starting out hot. Out west the giants surprisingly have the best record in all of baseball. They’ve found the fountain of youth and guys like Crawford, Longoria (currently hurt), wood, descalfani, and gausman are having career years. The Rockies for some reason have their own thread on TTW, that’s been the highlight of their whole season.
Unfortunately there’s been two criminal cases involving high profile players. Ozuna (not to be confused with Osuna) was arrested for a domestic violence incident in May. Bauer is currently under a police investigation for the same reason. Both players are likely to receive suspensions regardless of the legal outcome. There was also the whole all star game location debacle that exposed the hypocrisy of the mlb. For forum rules reasons I’ll leave it at that.
