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Turning a Corner or Watching a Collapseby Cameron on August 18 at 6:33PM | comments (0)
[ comments (0) ] [ BallHype ] The weekend was a walking disaster. Three games against Toronto, for most of the season, was a ticket to a winning streak. Now, because of ignominous timing and a bad matchup in Paul Byrd's debut, because of bad weather and then a truly horrendous outing from Josh Beckett, the Red Sox hit the road riding a painful two game losing streak in need of redemption in Baltimore, just as the Orioles return from a demolition of the Tigers and surprising series win.  More outings like Sunday's from Beckett and Boston is in real trouble. (AP) It's all part of a rapidly changing AL East which could wreak havoc on the American League playoff races. The interesting thing, of course, is that the three teams who finished on the bottom of the division last year are having the biggest swing effect a year later. Here's how, at least according to WMYM, it stacks up right now: BALTIMORE: Is stunningly better than the Orioles team that started the season. The notable part of that, of course, is that the Orioles are essentially the same team, their young players are suddenly just significantly more confident. That's a testament to the entire organization, but mostly to 1) Adam Jones, who might be the most dynamic of the division's young center fielders (yes, that includes Jacoby Ellsbury), 2) Brian Roberts (is he ever going to stop producing?), 3) Jeremy Guthrie (has anyone even noticed that he's 8-2 since June 1st?) and, probably most significantly, GM Andy McPhail. We were sure that the walking disaster he created on the northside of Chicago was a product of the "real" McPhail. Evidently we were wrong. Sorry Senor Andy (yes, that is a Weeds joke). BOSTON: Is this really a World Series team? It's hard to tell, but the fact that the Red Sox keep struggling to track down Tampa Bay, with the Rays mixing their fair share of L's in with the W's, mind you, doesn't necessarily bode well. Sure, the outfield is a hell of a lot more solid defensively with Manny Ramirez gone, and Jason Bay has done his best to reproduce the numbers ManRam was cranking out at the plate, and for the most part he's succeeded. Still, the team as a whole seems to be trucking along and winning by the skin of their teeth. And with outings like the one Joshie put up yesterday, there's a hell of a lot to be worried about. NEW YORK: The Yankees are supposed to be the Yankees, and in truth there's still time for them to become the Yankees. But this team really doesn't like like they're ready to turn on the jets like New York teams in years past, does it? The more you watch, and the more injuries they're hit with, the more it looks like they're being completely held up by Derek Jeter and the ghost of Johnny Damon. Hell, maybe this really is the year that Jeter is finally just worn out and Damon is too injured to shake things up down the stretch. And now that we've just made that pronouncement, WMYM is going to go stab ourselves in the eyes repeatedly for putting out a reverse jinx on our own team. TAMPA BAY: They're a young bunch of upstarts and also-rans who played the first half of the season like the best team in the bigs, and now is looking like a bunch of average players led by a trio of pitchers having phenomenal years. Of course, that might be enough to hold on down the stretch, but WMYM has said all along that, by the end of the season, Tampa Bay would look like a bunch of upstarts and also-rans. The injuries to Evan Longoria (a crippling loss) and Carl Crawford (a painful one, in more ways than one), might be crushing enough to keep them from putting together one final push. At least that's what the Sox have to hope. TORONTO: Easily the scariest team on the schedule, because they can be a world beater one night (see: Sunday in Boston) and can look like a AAA composite the next. We've reached the point of the year where you're not beating Roy Halladay, and A.J. Burnett is going to put on the after-burners because he's ostensibly playing for a new contract. Scott Rolen finally looks comfortable, David Eckstein is still annoying and Cito Gaston is both back and fat. That's enough to make any matchup against them maddening, particularly since Gaston hasn't had time to lock into any discernable, long-term patterns yet. WMYM is already cringing thinking about Fri-Sun, not to mention that four-game Fenway series Sep. 12-14. And the three-game stretch on the 19-21.  Is everyone else as scared of Toronto as WMYM is? OK, glad we're on the same page. (AP) Where does that put everyone? It means the Red Sox are still not sure if they're the team they're supposed to be, Baltimore currently doesn't know who it's supposed to be so it's playing better than it should, Toronto is finally realizing who it was supposed to be and is playing like it, Tampa Bay is remembering the team everyone thought it would be and is scared and New York is, well, New York is just tired? Maybe we're off base here, but when you cut through all the commotion, that's what it looks like, doesn't it? Thoughts? And as a result, how important does that make this series at Camden Yards? Sure seems important to us. |
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