The MLB Second Half Headlines for Dummies

With the World Cup officially about to be over, NBA and NHL free agency have died down, the NFL calendar is dead (unless you’re tuning in for the Netflix Quarterback series!), and it’s essentially just the WNBA and baseball right now.

For those who are just now joining us in the baseball season, welcome! This is essentially your primer for everything that has happened before the All-Star Break.

This should hopefully catch you up on fun things, answer your questions, and function as a guide before the trade deadline on August 3rd and the home stretch, where baseball gets incredibly exciting.

The state of the game right now has something fun to watch every single day, and we welcome you with open arms for this variety of topics and questions, hopefully answered.

James Wood and Jacob Misiorowski Are Freaks of Nature You Have to See

Remember when everyone, even the casuals, were watching Victor Wembanyama in the Finals and Erling Haaland in the World Cup as the “I need to see this form of athleticism”? Not to disparage Shohei Ohtani, human unicorn who is still having an impeccable season, but the physical freaks that are new this season have been James Wood of the Washington Nationals, the 6’6 234 pound moose that hits the most leadoff homers in the majors to the moon and Jacob Misirowski, who throws over 100 mph routinely and is also simultaneously just a lanky Pokemon nerd like the rest of us.

NO ONE Likes Their Bullpen

The New York Yankees lead the league in bullpen ERA, and somehow, the only thing that you see online is how the meltdowns in the Bronx are unbearable. Starters are not going as deep into games, and with that, bullpens bear the brunt of more earned runs.

The White Sox and Marlins Young Cores Are Electrifying

These two teams are ahead of schedule and have proven to be very real. The Marlins have the best hitting infield in baseball in Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, and the White Sox now have an entire lineup of guys under 26 that look poised and ready to win now. Colson Montgomery has blossomed into an overall 5-tool shortstop, and Miguel Vargas was a Dodgers‘ prized prospect that now has a winning team around him with some of the best plate discipline in the game.

They both play like they have something to prove each night, and that’s kept them competitive all year after previous disaster seasons, and with them both being so young, we don’t really know what their ceilings are, which is particularly exciting. 

“So, What Happened to All of the American League Playoff Teams From Last Year?”

I’m so glad you asked! The Toronto Blue Jays are the most injured team in the league, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is slumping, and they’re in last place in their division. Cal Raleigh and the Mariners? Cal was maybe the worst hitter in baseball before being put on the IL for several months, and the offense scored the fewest runs in the league in June and July. The Tigers had Tarik Skubal go down with an injury in a contract year and have been doing everything they can to keep their head above water.

Jose Ramirez and Aaron Judge have both been injured for Cleveland and New York, and they’re fighting for their lives in their division. Boston fired everyone on the staff, and Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet are MIA. Any other questions?

Dominance Has Come From either A) Being the Dodgers or B) Small Market Geniuses

The three powerhouses thus far have been the Dodgers, predictably spearheading through the National League with the best record in baseball. Then the Rays and Brewers, two teams in the bottom 10 in payroll that have consistently worked on the margins, developed talent with their given resources, and have had to operate with what they have year after year, to be smarter than you. The Dodgers are capable of developing young talent like Andy Pages and Daulton Rushing, but they can also go out and spend ludicrous amounts of money on Kyle Tucker to hit .270 for them, and that’s why it’s not a surprise that the back-to-back champs are the subject of the impending lockout.

The Brewers and Rays were theoretically supposed to take a step back this season, but the bullpen efficiencies and contact-hitting approach, combined with a superstar leap by both Misiorowski for Milwaukee and Junior Caminero for the Rays, have made them that much more consistent than their peers. It’s the haves vs. the have-nots!

The Phillies’ Starting Rotation Is Built for October

Philly stole all the storylines by hosting All-Star Weekend and having their two superstars compete in the Home Run Derby, but make no mistake, this Philly team was looking like it was staring the end of an era in the eyes after firing the manager in month one. The turnaround, while the Braves are trending downwards, may have something to do with Mattingly taking over for Thomson, but it’s really just a matter of, oh, I don’t know, getting Zack Wheeler back from injury, and he’s the dog in the rotation that will go deep into games and strike out the entire side.

The lineup is incredibly top-heavy, essentially just Harper, Schwarber, and Marsh. Still, in October, when the game is built upon the top of your rotation for a series, the trio of Wheeler, Sanchez, and the rise of Jesus Luzardo getting it all together is a three-headed monster that sets up for a perfectly made October-ready team that will be scary.

The Dugout Celebrations Are in Full Swing

Let’s see here. The Pirates have a celebration traffic cone that they raise along with a welding helmet that is as blue-collar as it gets. The White Sox have a wizard hat and a wand. The A’s have a terrifying elephant mask. The Mets have a Spider-Man mask and web-sling celebration. The Rockies have a fantastic purple faux fur coat. It’s comical. It’s fun. It reminds you that it’s a kids’ game.

The Big Boys Are the Ones Hitting Homers

It’s a textbook case of mass equals power this year. The beautiful shapes of baseball, consisting of Schwarber, Alvarez, chiseled Jordan Walker, Ben Rice, James Wood, and Caminero, all towering beings, are hitting tanks.

You love an Altuve or an Ozzie Albies still, of course.

Competitive Parity Will Make the Trade Deadline Boring, but the Season Fun

There are only 3 teams in the American League with less than a 20% chance of making the postseason.

Only 7 teams are more than 4 games out of a Wild Card spot. That means that with the tight races, despite the mediocrity as well as the likely lockout next season, every single owner and GM is going to say, “Well, I guess we’re not out of it just yet!” and not give us the blockbuster trades that we’d like to see. It’ll be boring, but we also still have no idea who will be in the playoffs, considering all you really need is one really good month.

The Youth Movement Has Taken Over

This is arguably one of the most exciting crops of rookies and sophomores we’ve ever had, and with very little room for the previous era of salary manipulation, the way to go now is to call up and extend the youth as early as possible, and the young bucks are producing. Just the 2024 class alone has Guardians Travis Bazzanna, Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz, Jac Caglianone, JJ Wetherholt, Konnor Griffin, Trey Yesavage, and Carson Benge.

All are already playing critical roles on their respective teams, and the uncapped ceilings for youth that we get to see as early as possible have been one of the bright spots of the year. The cliche of “the league is in good hands” has never been more relevant.

The “If You Like Chaos” Teams: Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Atlanta Braves

The Nationals will score more runs than anyone, but are on pace for the most blown saves in a single season by a long shot. Every game is anarchy. The Cubs have multiple double-digit win and losing streaks this season, and the most home walk-off miracle wins all year, where everyone in the Wrigley bleachers loses their minds. The Rockies are, predictably, the most Rockies team in history, where it’s still impossible to pitch at Coors, but they have some franchise guys on offense that make them fun to watch this year!

They only won 43 games last year, and already had 39 before the break, thanks to Hunter Goodman being the best-hitting catcher in baseball and TJ Rumfield being a rookie playing out of his mind. The Braves, before a massive June swoon, were competent, healthy, and deep enough that they had the most come-from-behind wins because they’re a serious organization that is never truly out of it.