What To Expect In The Second Half Of The MLB Season: American League

Added on Jul 12, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The All Star Break is over and thankfully baseball betting resumes on Friday. Earlier today we looked at some of the big storylines that could dominate the second half of the season in the National League. Here’s what we see happening in the American League:

–The Yankees And Everybody Else: Heading into the season we heard the same thing about the New York Yankees that we’ve heard for the past several years–great offense, sketchy starting pitching. When Mariano Rivera went down those criticisms intensified. Apparently the Bronx Bombers didn’t get get the memo–the Yankees have the best record in baseball and their pitching has been surprisingly impressive given their struggles. At the break the Yankees team ERA of 3.73 is the 9th best in baseball. The American League East is the toughest division in baseball–even the last place team has a .500 record–but the Yankees are making mincemeat of their competition.

–Look Out For The LA Angels: The LA Angels got off to a horrible start this season and watched the Texas Rangers run away atop the AL West. Despite the slow start and the Rangers’ success, the Angels have closed the gap to 4 games and could run Texas down in the stretch run. The Halos are starting to hit the ball and have superior pitching. True, the Rangers have the #8 team ERA in baseball with the Angels at #6 but you get the sense that Texas has overachieved to date while LA has yet to reach their prime. Don’t be surprised if the Angels emerge as the team to beat in the second half of the season.

–White Sox The Class Of The AL Central: Through the midpoint of the season the AL Central has been a division that seemingly no one wants to win. Cleveland started strong but has slumped recently, Detroit is a mediocre team at best and Kansas City and Minnesota are non-factors. For that reason we expect the Chicago White Sox to run away with the AL Central in the second half. The White Sox hit the ball well and have some very strong pitching–particularly at the top of the starting rotation with Jake Peavy and Chris Sale. This divisional race could be ‘in the bag’ by September.