With the final weekend of baseball before the All-Star break upon us let's look back at the five most interesting stories to sweep through baseball, so far, in 2012.
R.A. Dickey
How could this man not be included? In October he will turn 38 and all he's done this season is dominate the NL like he's never done before. This is a guy who a few seasons ago not only couldn't hold down a job in a rotation but struggled to say in the Majors. He bounced between franchises (Texas, Seattle and Minnesota) before the Mets finally gave him a chance at being a full-time starter in 2010. His knuckleball seems to be mystifying hitters and has allowed him to notch, an MLB leading, 12 wins. He ranks third in ERA (2.40) and first in Ks (123) in the NL. He has more strikeouts than names like Kershaw, Strasburg and Cain. His WHIP sits at a very pretty 0.93 and leads all of baseball. On June 13th and 18th he tossed back-to-back 1 hitters. He's an early favorite for the NL Cy Young. Oh and before the season even began he released a book titled Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball. In the book he spoke about how he was sexually abused as a child. The man's overcome a lot to have, without a doubt, the best season of his career.
No-Hitters, Perfect Games and Cycles
These feats are impressive during any season but 2012 has already seen its fair share of them. Chicago White Sox Phil Humber started us off by tossing a Perfect Game at Safeco Field versus the Seattle Mariners on April 21. Eleven days later on May 2nd Jered Weaver tossed a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins. Just about a month after that (June 1) Johan Santana tossed the first ever no-hitter in the 50 year history of the N.Y. Mets. Exactly a week later six Seattle Mariners combined to no-hit the L.A. Dodgers. Then only 5 days later Matt Cain tossed the second perfect game of the season versus the Giants.
Hitters haven't been outdone though as less than a week after Humber tossed his perfect game Scott Hairston of the Mets hit for the cycle. Then in June when there was a break from pitching feats Aaron Hill accomplished one of the more remarkable feats in MLB history. On June 18th Hill hit for the cycle against the Mariners (Seattle has been involved in a lot this season already). Twelve short days later Hill was at it again hitting for the cycle against the Milwaukee Brewers becoming only the 4th player in MLB history to hit two cycles in one season, the second since 1900 and the first since 1931. If Hill were to hit another cycle in the remaining three months of the season he'd not only become the first player ever to do it but he'd also be tied atop the list of career cycles (3).
Cycles now outnumber no-hitters 293-272. What a season we're having already.
Washington Nationals Rotation
First things first the Nationals have only used 6 starters all season with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman and Edwin Jackson all making at least 16 starts (Ross Detwiler has made 12). Not only has the rotation stayed healthy though they've all performed. All five starters have an ERA that is lower than 3.74. Four of the five have WHIPs less than 1.16. If they continue at this pace it would be hard to imagine the Nationals not winning the NL East. They could use another bat or two in the lineup and it will be interesting to see what they decide to do at the deadline. Additionally the Nationals plan to limit Ace Stephen Strasburg's innings to 160. Hard to imagine how they'll accomplish that if the Nationals are in a playoff race.
Here are all the starters numbers:
(W-L, ERA, WHIP, BAA, K, BB)
Strasburg - 9-4 2.82 1.10 .225 128 28
Gonzalez - 11-3 3.01 1.12 .195 112 39
Zimmerman - 5-6 2.70 1.15 .252 72 20
Jackson - 5-4 3.73 1.13 .228 76 30
Detwiler - 4-3 3.43 1.27 .249 55 26
I'll take a 5th starter with a 3.43 ERA any day.
Rookies
The performance of various rookies all across MLB have caught the attention of fans and media alike. Angels Mike Trout is being hailed as the AL MVP by many. Rangers Yu Darvish hasn't been a complete flop as an import from the Japanese League and recently won the last chance vote for the AL All-Star team. Red Sox Will Middlebrooks has performed so well Boston was forced to trade fan favourite Kevin Youkilis to keep him on the field. Nationals Bryce Harper is one of the most highly touted prospects in years and at age 19 is having a solid season for the NL East leaders. Anthony Rizzo was just recently called up by the Cubs and has hit in virtually every game. Lance Lynn has moved from the Cardinals World Series winning bullpen to the rotation and all he's done is win 11 games.
Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles
Isn't it nice to see someone else atop of the standings, especially two franchises that have struggled for so long. The Orioles haven't made the playoffs since 1997 while the Pirates haven't made the playoffs since 1992.
The Orioles started out the season strong and have held their own in the AL East all season. Right now they sit at 45-38. That's good enough for 2nd place in the East 6 games back of the Yankees.
The Pirates on the other hand have played well as of late and have surged into 1st in the NL Central. They currently sit at 46-37 and hold a 1 game lead over the Reds.
With the added Wildcard this season both franchises will have a realistic chance at the playoffs if they can continue their strong play. It would be nice for baseball to have an infusion of new teams into the playoffs. At first I was against the additional Wildcard but it has certainly done its job. So many teams are in contention that normally wouldn't be. I'm glad to see Baltimore and Pittsburgh are two of those franchises.
Imagine they faced off in the World Series? I bet no one would have predicted that in Spring.
That's almost it for the first half, let's hope the second half is just as interesting.
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