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Tampa Bay Rays: Halfway through the season, the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place in the AL East. I probably don't need to tell anyone that this is the first time in franchise history that the Rays have been in first place this late in the season. In fact, they probably haven't been in first place much later than a month into any season in their history. The fact that they are playing so well, is truly amazing and I personally expect them to be a legit playoff contender in the end mainly because of their strong pitching.
Tampa Bay's pitching has been solid, posting a 3.69 ERA and 110 ERA+ for the season, which statically speaking puts them only behind the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox for best pitching in the AL. Their pitching staff is led by Scott Kazmir who has been phenomenal this season posting a 7-3 record with a 2.28 ERA and 178 ERA+. It is possible that their pitching may get even better, if they decide to call up David Price, who was their # 1 draft pick last season. They also have several other top pitching prospects in the minors who could help out this season or be used in a trade to bolster the starting rotation or bullpen.
Offensively, the Rays have been solid but not spectacular, so there is definitely room for improvement in that area. The offense as a whole has probably underperformed and if guys like Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Pena catch fire in the second half then this team could be even more dangerous. At this point in the season, Evan Longoria has been their most productive hitter, posting a line of .270/15 HR/47 RBI/.342 OBP/.529 SLG/133 OPS+. He is certainly a favorite for Rookie of the Year in the AL.
Honestly, I think this team might only be a few moves away from making the World Series this season. Boston is going to be their toughest hurdle in getting there but the Red Sox have sustained a lot of injuries this season and it's possible their pitching staff will not be at full strength at any point this year. David Ortiz is also several weeks away from returning. The Red Sox visit Tampa tonight for the start of a 3 game series, which should tell us a lot about the Rays chances this season. Not to mention there could be more fireworks between these two teams after what happened with Coco Crisp the last time they faced each other.
Right now Boston looks like the favorites to win the AL again but the Rays and White Sox are not far behind. I'm not 100% sold on the Angels yet because their offense has been under performing so far this season and they have only outscored their opponents by 12 runs to date. In fact, I would not be surprised to see the A's make a hard push at winning the AL West.
Speaking of the Rays, the Hardball Times took a sneak peak at the Rays 2008 # 1 draft pick, Tim Beckham.
Michel Inoa: Big news in the amateur ranks this week as top Dominican prospect Michel Inoa signed with the Oakland A's for $4.25 million dollars:
SaberScouting has learned from MLB sources that Dominican right-handed pitching phenom Michel Inoa has agreed to a $4.25 million bonus with the Oakland A’s. The A’s have called a press conference to announce the signing of their new prize. Inoa is a 6′7, 205 lb pitcher with a low 90’s fastball that reaches 95, along with good feel for a curveball and changeup with a projectable body and feel that is beyond his years, despite lacking top-level coaching and being only 16 years old. (SaberScouting)
Here is a scouting report on Michel Inoa, via SaberScouting. Inoa is still young at 16(supposedly) and has off the charts athleticism to go along with a solid frame that has scouts projecting he will some day throw 100 miles per hour. This kid is definitely a talent and a score for the Oakland A's but he is so far off from the majors that you never know what can happen. I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more about Michel Inoa over the next few years.
In related news, Pending Pinstripes also notes that there were some shady dealings during the signing process after Inoa and his agent backed out of an earlier agreement with the Yankees and raised the price. SaberScouting also has some scouting reports on the rest of the top international prospects.
Arizona Diamondbacks: After jumping out to a 28-16 start and having the best record in baseball, the Arizona Diamondback's have been horrible since then, posting a 13-25 record and now sit at .500 on the season. The blame has to go to the offense, which is posting a line of only .245 AVG/.321 OBP/.409 SLG/93 OPS+ . Statistically on offense, they are only better than the Nationals and Dodgers, so that should tell you all you need to know about their offense. The reason why they were able to get out to such a good start was because their young hitters like Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds were extremely hot at the beginning of the season. Now that they have cooled off, this team is struggling to score runs, mainly because they rely too much on hitters who strike out too much. They are third in the league in strike outs with 639, led by Mark Reynolds(99), Justin Upton(90), and Chris Young(81).
Only the Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres have more strike outs than the Diamondbacks. The Padres are also are poor offensive team but the difference with the Marlins is they are one of the most powerful teams in the NL and lead the NL in HRs and are second in SLG. The Marlins' power makes up for their high strike out totals, while the Diamondbacks and Padres lack the power to make up for their inability to make contact.
Detroit Tigers: Fan Graphs has noted that Justin Verlander's velocity is back, having increased on average from 91.9 MPH in April, to 93.6 MPH, to 94.5 in June. It is no surprise that his performance has also improved as his velocity has increased. It is also no surprise that the Detroit Tigers have improved since Verlander starting pitching better and they now sit above .500 for the first time this season. The Tigers have won 5 games in a row and 17 of their last 21 games, beating up on the likes of the Indians, White Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Cardinals, and Rockies. It definitely seems like interleague play has been the reason for the Tigers turnaround and it will be interesting to see if they can continue to play well now that they are back facing AL teams.
Texas Rangers Prospects: The Texas Rangers have called up hot prospect Chris Davis:
Davis, the Rangers’ fifth-round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Navarro College, started the season at Double-A Frisco and hit .333 in 46 games with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs in 186 at-bats. He was then promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma where he is also hitting .333 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs in 111 at-bats. Overall, he has a .386 on-base percentage and a .643 slugging percentage while striking out 73 times and walking 26 times in 297 at-bats. (MLB)
I was going to do a Minor League Prospect Watch feature on Chris Davis but the Texas Rangers beat me to the punch. Another prospect I was considering was Texas Rangers catcher Max Ramirez but he was also just recently called up. Ramirez had been mashing the ball in Double-A, posting a line of .363 Avg/17 HR/50 RBI/.457 OBP/.662 SLG.
Davis, who is a 22 year old left hand hitting 1B, is off to a hot start so far hitting .375 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI in his first 8 at-bats. Ramirez is not faring as well, hitting only .188 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in his first 16 at-bats. Chris Davis could be in the majors for good this season but it looks like Max Ramirez will be sent back down to minors once Gerald Laird comes off the 15-Day DL.
More: MLB Weekly
Tampa Bay's pitching has been solid, posting a 3.69 ERA and 110 ERA+ for the season, which statically speaking puts them only behind the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox for best pitching in the AL. Their pitching staff is led by Scott Kazmir who has been phenomenal this season posting a 7-3 record with a 2.28 ERA and 178 ERA+. It is possible that their pitching may get even better, if they decide to call up David Price, who was their # 1 draft pick last season. They also have several other top pitching prospects in the minors who could help out this season or be used in a trade to bolster the starting rotation or bullpen.
Offensively, the Rays have been solid but not spectacular, so there is definitely room for improvement in that area. The offense as a whole has probably underperformed and if guys like Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Pena catch fire in the second half then this team could be even more dangerous. At this point in the season, Evan Longoria has been their most productive hitter, posting a line of .270/15 HR/47 RBI/.342 OBP/.529 SLG/133 OPS+. He is certainly a favorite for Rookie of the Year in the AL.
Honestly, I think this team might only be a few moves away from making the World Series this season. Boston is going to be their toughest hurdle in getting there but the Red Sox have sustained a lot of injuries this season and it's possible their pitching staff will not be at full strength at any point this year. David Ortiz is also several weeks away from returning. The Red Sox visit Tampa tonight for the start of a 3 game series, which should tell us a lot about the Rays chances this season. Not to mention there could be more fireworks between these two teams after what happened with Coco Crisp the last time they faced each other.
Right now Boston looks like the favorites to win the AL again but the Rays and White Sox are not far behind. I'm not 100% sold on the Angels yet because their offense has been under performing so far this season and they have only outscored their opponents by 12 runs to date. In fact, I would not be surprised to see the A's make a hard push at winning the AL West.
Speaking of the Rays, the Hardball Times took a sneak peak at the Rays 2008 # 1 draft pick, Tim Beckham.
Michel Inoa: Big news in the amateur ranks this week as top Dominican prospect Michel Inoa signed with the Oakland A's for $4.25 million dollars:
SaberScouting has learned from MLB sources that Dominican right-handed pitching phenom Michel Inoa has agreed to a $4.25 million bonus with the Oakland A’s. The A’s have called a press conference to announce the signing of their new prize. Inoa is a 6′7, 205 lb pitcher with a low 90’s fastball that reaches 95, along with good feel for a curveball and changeup with a projectable body and feel that is beyond his years, despite lacking top-level coaching and being only 16 years old. (SaberScouting)
Here is a scouting report on Michel Inoa, via SaberScouting. Inoa is still young at 16(supposedly) and has off the charts athleticism to go along with a solid frame that has scouts projecting he will some day throw 100 miles per hour. This kid is definitely a talent and a score for the Oakland A's but he is so far off from the majors that you never know what can happen. I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more about Michel Inoa over the next few years.
In related news, Pending Pinstripes also notes that there were some shady dealings during the signing process after Inoa and his agent backed out of an earlier agreement with the Yankees and raised the price. SaberScouting also has some scouting reports on the rest of the top international prospects.
Arizona Diamondbacks: After jumping out to a 28-16 start and having the best record in baseball, the Arizona Diamondback's have been horrible since then, posting a 13-25 record and now sit at .500 on the season. The blame has to go to the offense, which is posting a line of only .245 AVG/.321 OBP/.409 SLG/93 OPS+ . Statistically on offense, they are only better than the Nationals and Dodgers, so that should tell you all you need to know about their offense. The reason why they were able to get out to such a good start was because their young hitters like Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds were extremely hot at the beginning of the season. Now that they have cooled off, this team is struggling to score runs, mainly because they rely too much on hitters who strike out too much. They are third in the league in strike outs with 639, led by Mark Reynolds(99), Justin Upton(90), and Chris Young(81).
Only the Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres have more strike outs than the Diamondbacks. The Padres are also are poor offensive team but the difference with the Marlins is they are one of the most powerful teams in the NL and lead the NL in HRs and are second in SLG. The Marlins' power makes up for their high strike out totals, while the Diamondbacks and Padres lack the power to make up for their inability to make contact.
Detroit Tigers: Fan Graphs has noted that Justin Verlander's velocity is back, having increased on average from 91.9 MPH in April, to 93.6 MPH, to 94.5 in June. It is no surprise that his performance has also improved as his velocity has increased. It is also no surprise that the Detroit Tigers have improved since Verlander starting pitching better and they now sit above .500 for the first time this season. The Tigers have won 5 games in a row and 17 of their last 21 games, beating up on the likes of the Indians, White Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Cardinals, and Rockies. It definitely seems like interleague play has been the reason for the Tigers turnaround and it will be interesting to see if they can continue to play well now that they are back facing AL teams.
Texas Rangers Prospects: The Texas Rangers have called up hot prospect Chris Davis:
Davis, the Rangers’ fifth-round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Navarro College, started the season at Double-A Frisco and hit .333 in 46 games with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs in 186 at-bats. He was then promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma where he is also hitting .333 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs in 111 at-bats. Overall, he has a .386 on-base percentage and a .643 slugging percentage while striking out 73 times and walking 26 times in 297 at-bats. (MLB)
I was going to do a Minor League Prospect Watch feature on Chris Davis but the Texas Rangers beat me to the punch. Another prospect I was considering was Texas Rangers catcher Max Ramirez but he was also just recently called up. Ramirez had been mashing the ball in Double-A, posting a line of .363 Avg/17 HR/50 RBI/.457 OBP/.662 SLG.
Davis, who is a 22 year old left hand hitting 1B, is off to a hot start so far hitting .375 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI in his first 8 at-bats. Ramirez is not faring as well, hitting only .188 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in his first 16 at-bats. Chris Davis could be in the majors for good this season but it looks like Max Ramirez will be sent back down to minors once Gerald Laird comes off the 15-Day DL.
More: MLB Weekly
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