After so much pre-season hype, the Los Angeles Dodgers still find themselves in the cellar of the National League West. But, wait a minute… the Dodgers are only 4 games out of first place in the NLW behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Even though the Dodgers have been in last place for most of the past two months, there are a few adventurous handicappers who are now picking them to actually win the National League West… and maybe more. The makeup of the division itself probably has a lot to do with the prediction as no one seems to have much faith in any of the other four teams to come through in the long run.
Now that Hanley Ramirez is back and doing well… and Matt Kemp is at least back, suddenly things are looking up for the Dodgers. And please don’t forget Yasiel Puig… as if anyone could. He has been playing in Major League Baseball for two whole months now and already he seems destined to make the All-Star team this year.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, after losing 3 of a 4 game series to the Dodgers, said, “Now that I’ve seen the Dodgers, I think they’re as good as anyone in the division.”
Coming up on the All-Star break, the best team in baseball appears to be the Pittsburg Pirates who are currently on a 9 game winning streak. They became the first MLB team to win over 50 games this season. The Pirates, however, have been in this position in previous years and always managed to blow it down the line. But, according to those in the know, this year edition of the Pirates is not likely to self destruct quite as easily.
Pittsburg has now taken over sole lead in the National League Central division but still have two very good clubs right on their heels. The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds are not about to give up so easily and the race for the NLC promises to be a good one.
The Toronto Blue Jays were another team that got a lot of pre-season attention… but, they dwelled on the bottom of their division for the first half of the year. Then the Blue Jays went on an 11-0 win streak and turned some numbers around going over .500 for the first time all year. What potential do they have to make an impression in the American League East… only time will tell.
