MLB Roundup: Week 13

The Guardians and Phillies continue to duke it out for the best team in baseball, a bat boy saves Shohei Ohtani, and ... are the Astros back?

The action never ceases within MLB, so of course there have been many resurgences and regressions across both league. Where do things stand halfway through the season?

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Division Trends

The Philadelphia Phillies (53-27) and The Cleveland Guardians (51-27) are at the top of their leagues, with Philadelphia just edging out the Guardians by a half-game for the best in baseball. The Phillies have been playing smoothly all season, are 6-4 in their last 10 games, and hold the best run differential in baseball (+122). The Guardians have also been hot, however, winning seven of their last 10 and completely dominating the AL Central.

Speaking of smooth:

Let’s go back to the AL Central. Cleveland has essentially locked down first place for the time being, but both the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals are still hanging around and battling for a Wild Card spot in a tight race. The Guardians and Royals face off for a four-game set this weekend, with Kansas City taking the first game on Thursday and getting three more chances to potentially close the gap.

The AL East is consistently one of the most entertaining divisions, and the New York Yankees (52-30) are still rolling. The bad news for the Yankees is that they are riding a four-game losing streak and are just 2-8 in their last 10 games. Up until Thursday night the Yankees still led the division, but with their loss and Baltimore’s win, the division is now all tied up heading into the weekend.

The Baltimore Orioles have a plethora of young and exciting talent across the board. Gunnar Henderson has been the best shortstop in MLB, with a 1.002 OPS, and is undoubtedly a top MVP candidate along with Aaron Judge (no shocker there). Adley Rutschman has also been one of the strongest players behind the plate, leading all qualified catchers in homers, batting average, and OPS. Sorry but not sorry for the Orioles love fest; they are easily one of the best and worthy teams this year.

A storyline that has intrigued me this entire first half of the season is how poorly 2023’s World Series teams are performing. The Texas Rangers are eight games out of first behind the Seattle Mariners and have won just 37 games this year for a mediocre, sub-.500 win percentage (.457). It is also definitely not helpful that the 2023 World Series MVP, Corey Seager, has posted the fourth-worst OPS (.458), and the fifth worst slugging percentage over the last two weeks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks (39-42) are hardly any better and are also falling behind in their division, already 11 1⁄2 games out of first ... but still not completely out of the Wild Card race as they are just three games out with half of the season still to go. As we’ve seen with the Houston Astros, a little hot streak can change everything!

As for the NL Central and the NL West, the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers remain in control. The St. Louis Cardinals have played much better in recent weeks and have hopped right back into the Wild Card race, but are still six back from Milwaukee. The rest of the NL Central is not showing much fight.

As for the NL West, the San Diego Padres are highly unlikely to beat the juggernaut that is the Dodgers, and to get into the playoffs, it would most likely have to be through the Wild Card, where they are currently a half-game ahead of St. Louis.

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Who’s Hot?

The Houston Astros are on a seven-game win streak and have been victorious in eight of their last 10. Houston has produced the top batting average as a team over the last week (.324), and a highly efficient 3.12 team ERA — and are now just 4 1⁄2 games out of first, fighting all the way back to .500 after sweeping the Rockies.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is having a solid year, but has gone off this past week. He’s blasted four homers in the six games, and is fourth in OPS (1.407) in all of MLB for the last week. The real question however, is will Vladdy still be a Toronto Blue Jay come the trade deadline?

The New York Mets have been as mediocre as they come, but they have gone on a hot streak by winning eight of their last 10, taking their rival Yankees to the shed in a series sweep, and are currently riding a three-game win streak! J.D. Martinez has helped pave the way, recording the second-best OPS over the last week behind only Shohei Ohtani.

A perfect lead-in for the top player in baseball: Ohtani continues to flash power and demonstrate proficiency at the plate, leading MLB in several areas in the past couple of weeks. He’s manufactured the top OPS (1.457), the most home runs (8) and RBIs (17), and (obviously) is the top batter in the NL. Even as a White Sox fan, it was an honor for Shohei to have hit two bombs against us.

Byron Buxton was the top American League batter in terms of OPS and SLG this past week, and posted a truly insane slash line: .474/.500/1.105! Honestly, I’m not sure this ball has landed yet:

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Who’s Not?

As mentioned above, Corey Seager is stuck on the struggle bus, and his performance is absolutely uncharacteristic of how he typically plays the game. He has won two World Series MVPs, so we know he has the power and talent. He just needs to get back into the groove, and I’m sure he’ll be back tormenting opposing pitchers in no time.

Let’s not forget:

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman is deep in a slump over the last 15 days, producing a rough .260 OPS, and not even reaching .100 with his batting average. Pour one out for Nolan, hopefully he can turn it around.

The Oakland Athletics are on a five-game losing streak and have only won three of their last seven. Unsurprising, but nonetheless, they continue to camp out in last place in the AL West.

The Yankees pitching staff has been having a hard time over the past week, to put it lightly. As a team, they have produced a 7.41 ERA, the worst in MLB — easily contributing to their current losing streak.

Last but not least: The Chicago White Sox.

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Headlines around the league

With All-Star weekend right around the corner, voting is still live; Aaron Judge earned the most votes of all players, automatically qualifying for the second round of voting. Bryce Harper also qualified automatically by earning the most votes of all National League players.

The Dodgers bat boy was the hero on Wednesday, as he effortlessly saved Shohei Ohtani’s life by catching a foul ball headed for him in the dugout.

Even though they are the worst team in MLB, the White Sox still managed to sell out a Wednesday night game — shout-out to Mexican Heritage Night!

And finally, Happy Pride! Several MLB teams have been celebrating over the last few weeks, with all teams hosting a Pride Night ... except for the Texas Rangers ... again.

And hey, hero move by the Orioles. They sure noticed how the Rangers stand out:

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That’s all for this week! And a reminder, if you’re looking to pick up pitchers throughout the week for your fantasy teams, anyone throwing against the White Sox is a pretty solid bet. And probably the Miami Marlins.

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