The Giants, surprisingly, had an easier route to the NL West title than people thought. Everyone had the Dodgers as the favorite after acquiring Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett at the trade deadline which was supposed to solidify a strong lineup. It didn’t, and the Giants pulled away to take the crown while LA missed out on the playoffs altogether. The Giants pitching staff, which consists of five starters that started 30+ games and won at least 10, is anchored by Matt Cain, who took over as ... Read More
Cincinnati Reds playoff preview
The Cincinnati Reds cruised to the NL Central Crown after a mid-season dogfight with the Pirates. After trailing the Bucs by one game at the All-Star break, the Reds accelerated to a double-digit lead in the central winning with 10 games to spare. They will enter the postseason with the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NL, depending on what Washington does to end the season. They have four pitchers that have 12+ wins and all five of their starters have started 30+ games. Only one game was started ... Read More
Berardi’s baseball update
Updated Playoff Races - 9/27 Every week, I will update you on the playoff races going on in the majors along with who those teams will face in the upcoming week. (Take note, All GB are based on loss column ONLY. I don’t believe in the ½ game stat because those are games that can be controlled by a team.) AL East The Yankees held a seven-game advantage over Baltimore and Tampa Bay at the start of the month. The lead is now four. 1. NY 74 – 53 -- (3 vs. Tor 56 - 70, Off ... Read More
Has the extra wild card helped the MLB in general?
This year, the MLB has installed a second wild card spot (per league) to make each league more competitive down the stretch. It was implemented, also, to keep the general fans interested later into the season rather than tailing off then coming back when the playoffs started. It also has made more teams competitive. Rather then packing it in at the trade deadline, more teams were willing to be buyers because they still had a chance for once and it has shown in the standings. So far, I think the ... Read More