MLB Roundup: Week 8

A quick look at who’s hot, and who’s not around baseball

As the Memorial Day holiday weekend approaches and the Major League Baseball season nears the two-month mark, we begin to have a clearer picture of who teams are. Good teams prove to be good, and the bad tend to remain so. You win 60, you lose 60, it’s the other 42 that determine your season.

Top Stories and Trends

The Philadelphia Phillies entered Wednesday with the best record in all of baseball at 35-14, 2 1⁄2 games better than the AL-best New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. The Phillies are winners of four straight, are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers with the NL’s best run differential of +83, and their 261 runs scored is second only to those Dodgers’ 262. Philadelphia has the NL’s best team ERA (3.15), lead the NL in team batting average (.259), and are in the Top 5 in the NL in hits, home runs, and RBIs.

The Yankees remain the cream of the crop in the AL, tied with Cleveland at 33-17, with a +75 run differential, good for first in the AL, and sport a league-best 165 runs allowed. Despite dropping their last two games to the Seattle Mariners, they have an AL-best team ERA of 2.92, and their 69 home runs is tied with Baltimore for tops in the American League.

The Guardians keep on winning. Hate them as I may, I can’t even feign surprise at this point, 50 games into the season. The Guards are 9-1 in their last 10 and are second in the American League in runs scored. Of the powerhouse teams in the majors to this point, Cleveland has only faced off against the Yankees, and have yet to see them in the Bronx. Series against Baltimore, at Philadelphia, and at the Dodgers still await Cleveland in the second half of the season. The Guardians don’t make the schedule, however, and they are beating the teams they have played to this point.

Sticking in the AL Central, the surprise Kansas City Royals sit in second place, only 1 1⁄2 games back of the division-leading Guardians. KC leads the AL in runs scored with 247, have a better run differential than the Guards, and have allowed fewer runs. Their +72 run differential is second-best in the American League. Kansas City is 8-2 in its last 10, and are winners of six straight.

Who’s Hot?

Look no further than White Sox ace and lone bright shining light on the South Side, Garrett Crochet:

You can ignore the won-loss record, as his team only has 15 wins on the season; Crochet’s numbers are elite, and every start proves that he can be a top-of-the-rotation starter.

Speaking of elite:

Kid is just filthy.

While I hate all things Astros, Kyle Tucker is raking. His 17 homers lead all of baseball, and his 1.060 OPS is second only to Shohei Ohtani.

Speaking of Ohtani, his .356 batting average leads all of baseball, and he is tied with Aaron Judge for fourth in home runs with 13. Ohtani leads all of baseball with 69 hits, is second in doubles, third in OBP, and leads in slugging and OPS. Yeah, he’s pretty good.

Who’s Not?

Four teams entered play Wednesday with 2-8 records in their last 10: the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers. The reigning World Series champs find themselves 24-25, losers of two straight, and falling three games back of the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners. Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Adolis Garcia all sport OPS’s shy of .800, and the Rangers’ 219 runs allowed is sixth-worst in the American League.

The A’s sat at 17-17 on May 4, yet find themselves at 20-30 currently. Before Tuesday’s win against the Rockies, the A’s were riding an eight-game skid and were losers of 13 of 16. So much for climbing out of the basement. Oakland’s 244 runs allowed and -59 run differential are both fourth-worst in all of baseball. Things aren’t looking great for the A’s as they play out their final season in Oakland.

Rounding out the teams riding that struggle bus are the Chicago White Sox. They are, once again, the proud owners of the worst record in the bigs, and despite a recent 11-11 stretch, are still off to the worst start in franchise history. Their 141 runs are worst in baseball, a whole 28 runs behind the No. 29 club. They have allowed 100 — yes, 100 — more runs than they have scored. That would be a cool -100 run differential. They are atrocious. Just sell the damned team already, Jerry. Set your faithful fans free ...

Curios and Oddities

Oneil Cruz hit three balls harder than 115 mph on Tuesday. Three!

Crazy.

When you land on an odd list with Cy Young of all people, you’ve done something right:

Woo shut down the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, and Dylan Moore almost singlehandedly powered the Mariners offense to victory. But the same man doing both in the same game is just wild!