Can The Baltimore Orioles ACTUALLY Win The AL East?
Huge debate this week over the 9 spot on the updated Power Rankings:
We'll get to the Twins in a minute. For now, the big question we're asking is whether the Orioles can win the whole fuckin thing.
Each week, I've waited for a step back, but they simply refuse to relent.
They're relentless
Exactly.
And if they get some starting pitching next week that's even halfway worth a shit, the rest of the AL East is in big trouble. As we hammered this week:
The Orioles are 31-18 on the road despite an overwhelmingly mediocre starting staff. This youth movement means more than being healthy and fresh. They truly don't care where/when/who they're playing and that doesn't appear to be changing any time soon.
The Braves are a hiccup away from the Orioles taking over #1 on the power rankings. My hunch says that's next week, but then I'll just be accused of shitting on the Braves magic. Fine by me.
Some other observations:
The Dodgers have scored the most runs in the National League. Klemmer lead off with this point while naming LA his 3rd best team. I followed with the astute observation that the Dodgers have also scored more runs than the Braves. That's repetitive but bears repeating nonetheless. For as good as the Braves have been, the Los Angeles Dodgers have still managed more runs on the season.
That's because Freddie and Mookie are the best 1-2 position-player-punch in baseball.
Even so, The Braves are still #1 this week and 4 straight losses won't change that when you're 30 games over .500.
I said THIRTY games over .500
The attention has ultimately shifted to Home Field Advantage in Atlanta. It's clearly their spot to lose, which has formally transitioned the Braves into Starting Pitching Buyers next week.
Meanwhile the Rangers lose Corey Seager for 10 days but already showed a capacity to dominate without him. Even if he's leading the league in average and OBP and bWAR per game played. The Rangers are comfortable without him and they've got about 2 weeks to prove that again while the Rays continue their confusing slide.
Confusing = 32-35 over 67 games.
Castellani made a great point on the show this week. Did everyone overlook the start of their year against very bad teams? Did we casually gloss over their months-long crash to mediocrity?
They've lost MOST of their starting pitching. They're platooning guys you didn't know about a year ago. The bullpen has been to hell and back while serving up that weird Wander Franco story last month. Certainly there's enough sauce in Tampa to make a mess as they slide to 2nd in the division.
The Milwaukee Brewers follow at 6 and a lot of that has to do with Corbin Burnes. The Brewers have won his last 5 starts and since July 1st, he's 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings with 8 hits against 36 strikeouts. We've been begging for his return to form all season and it's starting to show.
Reminder = he's a big adjustment guy over his career. He's always making adjustments and tinkering and getting better, even at the expense of small steps back. So now 20 starts into the new rule changes - good chance we're starting to see a newly adjusted Corbin Burnes. That's my read on the situation.
Mix in a Sal Frelick's debut and the Brewers are working with some big time reinforcements from within the organization:
Miscellaneous Observations 7-9:
- Without Yordan Alvarez, it would appear the Astros have one (1) dynamic offensive threat in Kyle Tucker right now. That's terrible.
- The Blue Jays haven't really earned a spot on the list as much as other clubs have blown it. And in a battle of underperforming rosters, I'm inclined to lean towards this Blue Jays' talent. They simply have too many superstars. Bo
- RESPECT BAILEY OBER. You have to watch this week starting around the 50 minute mark to understand what I mean. So go do that, and then remember to RESPECT BAILEY OBER
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