Who's on top halfway through the year?
In a season when the American League has been that much superior to the National League, who finds themselves on top of the power rankings at the All Star break?
1. Boston Red Sox - The Red Sox are a loaded team, playing like a loaded team. They're combining the most dangerous offense in the MLB, with a top notch rotation. They have two MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, and a Cy Young candidate in Chris Sale.
2. Houston Astros - The Astros are probably the favorite to win the World Series for the second straight year. They have easily the best rotation in the game, and a dangerous offense as well.
4. New York Yankees - The Yankees are arguably the most dangerous team in the MLB. But behind there star players (Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton), the Yankees often lack consistency. Their pitching rotation is also weak behind Luis Severino. Don't get me wrong though, New York is a serious World Series threat.
5. Chicago Cubs - The Cubs are finally playing like the team we thought they would be. Largely led by Javier Baez, the Cubs were able to survive the first few months of the season, but now their offense is starting to roll.
3. Seattle Mariners - Simply put, the Mariners get a lot of hits. Led by Jean Segura, they have seven players batting above .265. Basically though, right now everything is going right for Seattle.
7. Los Angeles Dodgers - For the first about one third of the season, the Dodgers seemed heart broken from last year's World Series, and it showed. They're finally starting to turn it around, as both they're pitching and offense have progressively improved over the course of the year. Especially now with Manny Machado, they're a threat to win it all.
11. Oakland Athletics - On June 15, the Athletics were 11 games out of the wild card. Then they promptly went 21-6 in there next games, and now stand just three games behind the struggling Seattle Mariners, who are the second wild card team. Not to discount the A's offense, but there pitching is on a roll. If they keep playing like this, watch out for Oakland in the playoffs!
8. Cleveland Indians - Luckily for Cleveland, their in the worst division in baseball. They're 7.5 games ahead of the AL Central second place team the Minnesota Twins, but the Indians have the 11th best record in baseball. Sure, they'll get to the playoffs, but Terry Francona has got to get his boys going if they want to do something there.
15. Colorado Rockies - I'm not exaggerating when I say that the Rockies have a serious chance to go deep in the playoffs. Why not? Nolan Arenado is probably the favorite to take home the NL MVP so far, and the pieces around him are ticking.
6. Milwaukee Brewers - The Brewers offense and pitching has been consistently good the entire year. But, like last year, it's already starting to fade. Can the Brewers hang on for a playoff spot?
9. Arizona Diamondbacks - Paul Goldschmidt is finally playing like he should, and the D-Backs are right in the mix of things. Their record is still haunted by a 1-13 streak in mid May though, which they can't seem to make up for.
12. Philadelphia Phillies - Even if the Phillies add Manny Machado (which would be HUGE!), I just don't see them getting it done in the playoffs. They have a subpar offense, and are relying on an inconsistent rotation. Sorry Philly fans, this is not the year.
10. Atlanta Braves - The Braves go into the All Star Break having lost eight of their last eleven games, and are getting practically nothing from their offense. Not many thought the Braves would make the postseason this year, and they were most likely right.
18. Pittsburgh Pirates - If the Pirates can make things interesting, then that's all we can ask for, and right now it looks like they will. They're coming off of a five game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, and are going to be in the Wild Card hunt.
13. San Francisco Giants - The Giants are an interesting team. If they were to make the Wild Card Game, they would be dangerous, considering they could start Madison Bumgarner, but in order to get there, their offense has got to turn it up big time.
28. Minnesota Twins - In most divisions, the Twins would either be near the bottom if not in the bottom, but in the AL Central they stand at 2nd place. But, as of late, their offense has been on fire, and they've won 9 out of their last eleven games (there is an Asterix though, because those series' were against the Orioles, Royals, and Rays).
14. Tampa Bay Rays - Simply put, the Rays are in a terrible position, and likely will be for the distant future. They're stuck behind both the Red Sox and Yankees in the devastating AL East. Their only hope would be to get the second Wild Card spot, but frankly they're just not good enough.
16. St. Louis Cardinals - Hopefully for Cards fans the firing of Mike Matheny will spark St. Louis a little, but there's really no point. The Cardinals are an old, middling team stuck right in the middle.
20. Los Angeles Angels - When the best player in baseball is on a middling team not really in playoff contention, it's disappointing. That's exactly what's happening right now with Mike Trout and the Angels. Either LA has got to add some key pieces, or the MLB has to find a way to get Trout on a contender.
21. Washington Nationals - Nationals fans must be scratching their heads and wondering why their team is so bad. They've got loads of talent (Bryce Harper, Max Sherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner etc.), but can't seem to do anything right. Maybe they should follow the Orioles path and trade Harper?
22. Cincinatti Reds - The Reds rotation is just too terrible for the team to be half decent. Tyler Mahle has the most wins for a starter with seven, and Matt Harvey has their best ERA at 3.64.
17. Toronto Blue Jays - It just feels like the Blue Jays have no identity. So long were they riding on the backs of Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. And neither their rotation or the offense is strong enough to make up for the other.
23. Miami Marlins - There's just a lot missing from the Marlins. For instance, Caleb Smith leads their team in wins with five. FIVE! That's just depressing. And honestly, despite this, their offense is worse than their pitching. How is that even possible?
19. Texas Rangers - Besides Shin Soo Choo's incredible on base streak, there hasn't been much excitement surrounding the Rangers season. And to sum it up: Joey Gallo, who leads the team with 22 home runs, has a .187 batting average. What else is there to say.
25. Detroit Tigers - How the Tigers have won just five out of their last twenty five games, and still stayed third in their division, is a tribute to how truly awful the AL Central is. To put it simply, it's going to be a while until the Tigers are good again.
27. New York Mets - There was hope for the Mets prior to the 2018 season, but that has quickly faded. You would expect them to be half decent just because of their extremely talented rotation, but it can't make up for how horrible their offense is.
26. San Diego Padres - In their forty four years of existence, the Padres have made the playoffs just five times, and that number is not going to grow this year. But the Padres have a good farm system, and really weren't expecting much this year.
24. Chicago White Sox - The White Sox haven't had a winning streak above three games all year, yet they've had a losing streak of at least three seven times. When your team leader in batting average is hitting .256, well, you're just not a good team.
29. Baltimore Orioles - That the Orioles aren't last is a tribute to how awful the Royals are. Although it was the right move, trading Manny Machado certainly won't help Baltimore in the second half of the season. He led the team in pretty much everything, and behind him was frankly terrible.
30. Kansas City Royals - The Royals haven't won two straight games since May, and before that, they were doing terrible as well. In other words, there is nothing going right for Kansas City right now. Nothing.
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