Now that the Golden State Warriors have been crowned the NBA Champions and the Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed their second consecutive Stanley Cup. It’s time to focus on Americas favorite past time Major League Baseball.
Just in case you have not been paying attention in the National League the Washington Nationals are sitting on top of the East one win shy of the 40 wins mark. The Nationals are 39-26 with an eight and a half game lead over the New York Mets. The Nationals bats are alive and well as the team has hit 98 home runs lead by first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and his 19 homers followed by Outfielder Bryce Harper who has 16 home runs on the year. Right now Zimmerman is tied for second in the big leagues with his 19 blasts. The Nationals Pitching is led by Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer, both starters have seven wins.
Things are a little more competitive in the National League Central as the Milwaukee Brewers lead the way in a division where the difference between being on top and being on the bottom is only by five games. The Brew Crew behind the powerful bats of First Baseman Eric Thames, Third Baseman Travis Shaw and outfielder Domingo Santana ( all with double-digit home runs so far this season) are sitting on a two-game lead over the second place and defending World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. The St. Louis Cardinals are three and a half games behind the Brew Crew with the Pittsburgh Pirates four and a half games out of first place and the Cincinnati Reds bring up the rear a half-game behind the Pirates.
Now out West in the National League, The Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies are tied for the top spot. Both L.A. and Colorado while dueling each other have to look over their shoulders because the Arizona Diamondbacks are only a half game behind. The Dodgers are the hot team for now as they look to extend their six-game winning streak tonight against the Cleveland Indians.
Speaking of the Indians they are two and a half games out of first place in the American League Central trailing the Minnesota Twins. The interesting development happening in this division is that the difference between top and bottom is only 6 games. Not to mention the top three teams in this division (Twins, Indians and Detroit Tigers) are all on losing streaks. I mention that because the Kansas City Royals (who are tied with the Tigers for third) are on a four-game winning streak. The team bringing up the rear in this division is the Chicago White Sox.
Moving on the American League East, right now the New York Yankees are king but only by two games ahead of arch rival Boston. The Red Sox are charging on the Pinstripes who are on a two-game skid, while the BoSox are on a 3 game winning streak. New York is powered by the bat of 6’7″ 282-pound rookie outfielder Aaron Judge who is leading the Major Leagues with 22 home runs so far this season. Judge has a batting average of .338 ( For those of you who do not know, anything over a .300 batting average is considered great0. The Rookie already this season has 49 RBIs ( Runs Batted In) and 75 hits. So Keep your eye on big number 99 in pinstripes, he is making thins happen and we have not even hit the All-Star break yet.
Finally out West in the American League, The Houston Astros ( who at one time were in the National leagues) are the hot team and hold on to an 11 game lead. Houstons bats exploded this season as the Astros hit 103 home runs as a team. Outfielder George Springer leads the way with 18 home runs and fellow teammates Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez are not too far behind Springer with 12 home runs a piece. Houstons Pitching rotation is no slouch as Dallas Keuchel leads the way with 9 wins in 11 starts and Lance McCullers is right behind Keuchel with 6 wins in 13 starts.
This Baseball Season has been exciting already for the fans who love to see home runs ( I’m one of those fans). Last season the total number of blast leaving the park league wide was just a little over fifty-six hundred the second most in any season in MLB History. This season after approximately 65 games of the 162 games regular season we already have one player with 22 home runs ( Aaron Judge) and a Plethora of players that already have double digit home runs totals. So get out you popcorn if you like big hits in the big leagues this may be a record-setting year for home runs.
Trevin A Jones
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