First Half MLB Storylines

a blog by Schoolboy Jew

​Hopefully, you've been paying attention. If not, I got you covered.

Man, do I love baseball. Hell, I love sports in general for this exact reason: you never know what will happen. Let's start with the standings. In the American League East, not a lot of people saw Baltimore being in or near first place at the all star break, yet here we are. Boston and Toronto are right on their heels though, Boston is four games back and Toronto is 5. The AL Central is host to one of the biggest surprises in the MLB this year, the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe are 44-30, and as I write this, they are on a nine game winning streak. Hmmmm this seems oddly familiar....

Can't miss a chance to shout out the great Lou Brown. But seriously, the Indians are rolling. They have the best road record in the AL, something that can often plague young teams like the Indians. The Royals, who are the defending World Series champions, trail the Indians by five games. Lastly, in the AL West, the Rangers have surprised everyone by leading the division by a whopping TEN games, the biggest division lead in the MLB. Houston, the pick by most to win the division, is the second place team that happens to be trailing by ten. The National League East division features the tightest divisional race in the MLB, with first and third place separated by just three games. Washington leads the division, and the Mets and the freaking Marlins are tied for second. You read that right, the Marlins! In the NL Central, the Cubs are dominating, leading the Cardinals by 9.5 games and the Pirates by 12.5. In the West, the Giants are of course leading the division because it is an even year. for those who don't know, the Giants have won the World Series the last three even years(2010, 2012, and 2014). The Dodgers trail them by 7.5 games and are slumping. Now, on to some individual stats from the first half that are just unreal. Daniel Murphy, the second basemen for the Nationals is currently hitting .349. To put that in perspective for you, it is pretty damn good if a guy is hitting .300 at the all star break, but this guy is pretty much hitting .350! Now, as far as pitching goes, Clayton Kershaw has been unstoppable. He is 11-2, but that's not the most impressive stat. Kershaw has 145 strikeouts and 9 walks, meaning that for every walk he gives up, he has just over 16 strikeouts, a historic pace. Very excited to see what the second half holds.