The Philly Phanatics

Guys, I know it has been a very long time, but I am back to writing again so sit back, relax, and read my terrible blog.

So many strange things have happened during the season it is hard to pick where to start. I mean for God's sake, both Florida teams were in first place in their respective divisions, later than the first month of the season!!! A season so far filled with Chicago hopefulls, an even more depressed Seattle, and a dissapointed Big Apple, this is just the beginning. I will go ahead and break down what is going on division by division and give you some insight on what may or may not happen during the last "half" (41%) of the season.

We will start out with my personal favorite, the NL-East. Home of the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets....and the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins???? Not a whole lot of people expected them to be where they are because well the Braves don't have much in the way of pitching in the rotation or the bullpen, and the Marlins don't have much experience past Luis Gonzalez. This young team really pulled it together this year sporting one of the best all around athletes in Hanley Ramirez and one of the Home Run leaders and participants in the Derby in Dan Uggla. Their young pitching has really come through for them but I believe it is those two that holds this team together and I think most people will agree. Uggla was expected to do good, but not lead the league in homers and also not be hitting for such a high average. Fortunately, he has switched places with the current league leader in homers, Chase Utley. Utley started off as the hottest hitter in the game. Some analysists even said he was already guaranteed the MVP award. He hit a slump where he literally could not hit anything that was pitched to him. During this time Lance Berkman sort of took over as hottest hitter in the universe, but the Phillies, despite their recent woes, still find themselves atop the standings in this division they call home. The Braves seriously have slim to no pitching. Tom Glavine being their current ace with Jurrgens behind him. I predicted Smoltz being put on the DL and Chipper Jones may not be hitting with the power of Berkman, Utley, Howard, Uggla, and Burrell but he sure as hell is getting it done on the average side. The probability of him hitting above .400 still is not that high but he is the only player who can even remotely think about being the first person in ~50~ years to hit .400. The New York Mets have stormed back to normalcy with a new manager after Willie Ramdolph was fired. Delgado has been playing sub-par, even for his low standards, Reyes proved again that he is not one of the elite shortstops in the game, and Beltran was not ready to play himself either. There were in-club feuds and plenty of controversy. After a recent 10 game winning streak they find themselves in second place and only one game behind the Phillies. The Washington Nationals are the Washington Nationals. The Philadelphia Phillies are doing very well with Burrell and Utley being dominant in the middle of that lineup. Chris Coste is doing well, especially since he has been playing more often due to Carlos Ruiz's whopping .213 BA. Howard is batting above .230 but is the league leader in RBI and HR's. Hard to believe that he could bat this well with such a low average and while being on pace to shatter the record for strikeouts he set himself just a season ago. I will go ahead and predict that by the end of the season, the Mets will still be in second place, with the Marlins finishing close on their heels. The Marlins inexperience may bring them down a few notches but they will stay alive. The Phillies will win the Division and hopefully win a damn playoff game this year.

Next is the NL Central: With the Chicago faithful already making a huge deal to help themselves stay at the top of the division. They traded for former Oakland pitcher Rich Harden who when not on the DL, is one of the best pitchers in the game by far. With him and Zambrano at the helm, their staff is bolstered even more to help support that powerful offense. Soriano, although currently on the DL, has been putting up great numbers like usual, Derek Lee seems to be finding his power swing again and he is keeping his average up above .300. Aramis Ramirez is still a solid bat but their big leadoff hitter who shouldn't be a leadoff hitter, Alfonso Soriano, has been on the DL for a decent potrion of the season. Theriot is proving that he is the leadoff man they actually want and is his second season is batting .320 with 15 stolen bases. Fotenot showing up on defense and swinging a decent bat as well, batting .267 but has 7 homers. His performance does not affect the already bolstered lineup that bad expecially when he has good defense. Fukudome with 30+ RBI and 7 homers while batting .276 is also a good help. Soto, the starting catcher, is making a good push for Rookie of the Year, batting above .280 with 16 HR's and 56 RBI. Kerry Wood is also the closer now and has been practically lights out this year, proving he still has what it takes to be in the major leagues and my pre-season pick for comeback player of the year. They also signed the now center-fielder Jim Edmonds who was released by the Padres earlier this season due to his performance being absolutely abysmal. Since being signed by the Cubs however, he is batting .270 with 10 homers and 30 RBI. He has played in 45 games with the Cubs this year and that may have been the pickup that guarantees them the division..unless two other teams have something to say about it. Starting with the Milwaukee Brewers who are known for their potent offense with players rike Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. They also went out and traded for the big time pitcher from the AL, C.C. Sabathia who already has 3 wins for the Brew Crew, 2 being complete game victories. His ERA for Milwaukee is also only 1.80 and he has 24 K's in 24 innings. He said it was weird to leve those guys in cleveland but he was excited, it is the first time he hasn't been with their organization. With Ben Sheets and Dave Bush pitching behind him, their rotation looks as scary as any in the league. With Fielder and J.J. Hardy all in the infield, that is good offensive production by itself before you include Braun and Corey Hart. Braun appeared in the Homerun Derby and has 23 Homers with 66 RBI so far. Cameron is bringing power with 15 HR's but is only batting .237. Hart is batting .287 with 15 HR's and 58 RBI. Hardy is batting .282 with 13 long bomb's and 42 RBI. With Gagne closing games out, their can definately finish games, although they may not need to with Sabathia on the mound. Finally, St. Louis is the thrid team that cannot be counted out of this division. The Cardinals have three of their best starters on the DL right now but their offense is doing so well and the back-up starters, if you will, are doing a wonderful job filling in. Not to mention that Kyle Lohse, a Phillie last year, was not expected to do this well at all. He is currently 12-2 with a 3.35 ERA and his WHIP is hovering at 1.25. The Cards have had Matt Clement, Brad Thompson, Joel Pineiro, and Braden Looper step in at different times for the injured Mark Mulder, Adam Wainwright, and Chris Carpenter. That lineup is fueled by several players, including new 3rd baseman Troy Glaus who is not fallin off in his later years. he is batting .282 with 17 HR's and 61 RBI. Adam Kennedy and Aaron Miles are splitting time in the infield, Miles playing in more games than Kennedy, also more productive with one more homer and his BA is about 10 to 20 points better. Pujols is of course doing wonderful, batting .354 with 18 Homeruns and 50 RBI. Skip Shumaker, an outfielder, is also very productive, batting a .294 with 6 homers and 31 RBI batting near the bottom of the lineup. Ryan Ludwick is a big bat in that lineup currently as well (especially with Encarnacion on the DL). He has 22 Homers with 68 RBI while batting .289. Finally, the tainted, yet still feel-good story from last year continues into this year with Rick Ankiel. He is batting .278 with 22 HR's and 54 RBI. The central I think will belong to the Cubs but will also host the Wild Card team from the NL. If their pitchers return and are still effective, the Cards will take it down. If not the Brewers will definately make a case.

Finally for the NL is the West: The pathetic, beat-up, beat-down West. THe first place team is not even a .500 ball club and the two wild card hopefuls from last season are in the basement. The Padres can't find run support and the Rockies can't find support. I personally believe that there is not a lot to say about this division except that you can guarantee the D-Backs and the Dodgers will be there in the end. Torre, in my opinion, can rally the troops in LA to pull off the division title and possibly strike mild fear into a playoff opponent, but toher than that, the Dodgers did just recieve Nomar back from the DL and he has hit 3 Homers since his return two days ago. The D-Backs just traded for Tony Clark for a little help on the offensive side due to oft-injuries and having aquired Haren before the season, have a good case, but Torre works miracles and they are right behind the D-Backs this year.

Because I am very tired, either me or Tommy will return with a breakdown of the AL. (This half of the league took too long and the other half is more exciting. We will return.)