Monday, May 3, 2010

AL East Review: April (and up until now in May)

1. Rays: The Rays have gotten off to a great start, posting the best record in the majors so far at 18-7. They have gone 6-1-1 in series. Their only series loss was against the Yankees. They lead the AL in runs despite being 6th in the AL in homers, 5th in BA, and 4th in OBP. They do rank second in stolen bases. The Rays have the best pitching in the AL so far, leading the league with a 3.01 ERA and giving up the fewest runs. They rank 4th in the AL in Fld%. Basically, the Rays are in first place in the AL East and have the best record in the majors because they have scored the most runs in the league and given up the fewest runs in the league.

2. Yankees: The Yankees have gotten off to a good start, going 16-8 and currently sitting in the AL Wild Card position. They have won 7 of 8 series so far, only losing a series to the Angels. The Yanks have hit well as they rank second in the AL in runs to the Rays, and second in BA. They lead the league in triples and OBP. The Yankees have the 4th best ERA in the AL at 3.63, and have given up the second-least runs in the AL, again only to the Rays. In addition, the Yanks have the second-best Fld% in the AL. The Yanks are in second place in the AL East and for the best record in the AL because they are second in runs scored and runs allowed only to the best team in the AL East and AL right now, the Rays.

3. Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are 5.5 games back of the Rays in the AL East and 4.0 games back of the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race with a 13-13 record. They have gone 4-3-1 in series. Despite leading the AL in doubles and homers, the Jays are just 5th in the AL in runs because they only rank 13th in the AL in BA. The Blue Jays' pitching has not done well as they have only the 9th best ERA in the AL and have given up only the 7th-least amount of runs. They have ranked 3rd in the AL in Fld%. The Blue Jays are a decent team, but they're pretty inconsistent.

4. Red Sox: The Red Sox are 7.0 games back of the Rays in the AL East and 5.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race with an 11-14 record. They have gone 4-4 in series. The Red Sox are 6th in the AL in runs and BA, so they're just an average hitting team. Boston's pitching has really let them down as they are 12th in the AL with a 4.78 ERA and they have allowed the most runs in the AL. Even their fielding, the part of the game that they tried to improve on has been a disaster as they rank 13th in the AL in Fld%. Boston has really had a terrible start.

5. Orioles: The Orioles are 11.0 games back of the Rays in the AL East and 9.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race with a 7-18 record, the worst in the majors. They have gone 1-7 in series, with their lone series win coming against the Red Sox. Their hitting has been very bad as they rank 12th in the AL in runs and 9th in BA. They rank dead last in stolen bases. Their pitching has been just as bad as they have only the 10th best ERA in the AL at 4.67, and they have also given up the 10th most runs in the league. They rank 7th in the AL in Fld%. They're just a bad team right now.

Projections based on current records: Rays: 117-45, Yankees: 108-54, Blue Jays= 81-81, Red Sox= 71-91, Orioles= 45-117

I bet none of these projections are even close to right.

My predictions: Rays 97-65, Yankees 100-62, Blue Jays 73-89, Red Sox 86-76, Orioles 70-92

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