Baseball upside down
Posted May 27th, 2008 by Ron
The Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks are the two best teams in baseball.
Go figure?
The Indians and Detroit Tigers are fighting to see who can catch the Seattle Mariners as the biggest disappointments of the year.
Go figure?
Victor Martinez has no home runs; Carlos Quentin (who?) leads the AL in home runs.
Go figure?
SI's cover last week called it Bizarro Baseball.
What does this all mean? Well before Bizarro world, it would mean that one of these odd situations would hold on while the rest would fade.
I think it is just talent. The Rays and D'backs have been stockpiling talent for a few years.
Eventually talent wins. And this just might be the year.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[...] Original post here [...]
May 27th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I think the Rays having this good of a beginning to the season is a surprise but in no way do I think the Diamondbacks are a surprise. Pitching wins. Does anybody have a better rotation than Arizona?
May 29th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Cleveland… has a better rotation than Arizona.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:20 am
Cleveland can make a good argument for the best rotation that's true. I probably should have said best staff instead of rotation.
Or better yet, whose pitching is going to be the farthest above the competition they have to play on their schedule? The Indians have to play good pitching teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, and even the Tigers (great potential). The D-backs pitching could be dominant against a lot more NL staffs than will the Indians over AL staffs.
The point remains..I don't think the D-backs are a real surprise.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I dont think they are either, with a healthy rotation led by Brandon Webb and their lineup is hitting for them, which certainly helps.
With all that being said, Arizona is the best of the worst, to be honest. We'll see if this year is any different, and it isnt just the DH… the AL is simply head and shoulders better, offensively. The fact that the Indians' starters are putting up the kind of starts they are in the far superior league makes it that much more impressive in my mind.
Arizona's staff is awfully good, but the Indians have to be tops, simply by virtue of the teams they play. Offenses are absolutely lethal in the AL… Texas for example?