5-4-3 Baseball Roundup

Does it seem like there's only 6 weeks left in the baseball season? With football season coming on, at least it means we're getting closer to the MLB playoffs. Let's cover the big stories out of MLB this week in our 5-4-3 Roundup. This week we look at 5 Climbers, 4 Flops, and the 3 Races to Watch as we come down the stretch in the marathon that is the national pastime.

5 Climbers

1. Washington Nationals - The Nationals shocked the baseball world by actually signing Stephen Strasburg. Did anyone out there in the blogosphere actually think the Nats could get it done? (Paging Yard Yoder) Even though pitchers taken #1 don't have a great history, the Nats will have an All-Star if he's 1/4 of what the experts think he is. Either way, good on the Nats for actually creating good news for once, honestly, where else can they go but up?

2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - The quietest great team in sports. (BTW, isn't that name incredibly annoying when it's spelled out like that? Imagine if the Yankees were the New York Yankees of the Bronx??) Anyways, when August rolls around, expect the Angels in first place. If they hold on, it would be 5 out of 6 AL West titles. 1B slugger Kendry Morales has led the charge (.353, 7 HR, 20 RBI in August) as they sit one game behind the Yanks in the L column.

3. Matt Holliday/Chris Carpenter - Each has played an immense role in bringing the Cards to the front of the NL Central, and making them pennant contenders in a stacked NL. Carpenter is 6-0 since the All-Star Game with a sub-2 ERA and Holliday has seen his AVG/SLG/OPS jump from .286/.378/.832 to .414/.451/1.158 from Oakland to St. Louis. You know, about that Billy Beane guy...

4. Cliff Lee - Well played Cleveland, well played. (Faux tipping of cap) Couldn't everyone see this comin? Lee is 4-0 with a miniscule .082 ERA, 2 Complete Games, and 34 K's. But hey, at least Cleveland got a lot in return, right? Oh, we won't know for 3 years? That's ok, Browns season is right around the corner! Oh, wait, no that's no good. I mean, enjoy LeBron's last year in Cleveland!

5. The Yankees - Where else could I go here people? How warm it made my heart to see the Evil Empire finally beat the White Knights of Boston and extend that AL East lead to 6.5 Games. C.C. Sabathia (where was he originally again?) has evidently been fed some beer and brats and is pitching like his Milwaukee days and A-Rod is staying out of the tabloids, at least until he gets involved in a love triangle between Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn, he does have a thing for older women ya know.

4 Flops

1. Chicago Cubs - Oh, Wrigleyville. Mr. Yoder II's Cubs have fallen to 7 games behind the hated Cardinals and 6 games out of the Wild Card race. Sweet Lou pulled the plug on the great Kevin Gregg a little too late, and the Cubs have performed incredibly poorly on the road in August. Hey, there's always next year, just like there has been for the last 101 years.

2. Big Papi - Where is the outrage? Where are the tough questions? Where is the Peter Gammons sit down? If any other player was hitting .188 in August and had seen their power numbers drop from highs of 54 HR's and 148 RBI's to current season totals of 19 and 70 amidst being found out for TESTING POSITIVE FOR PED's, wouldn't there be a mass rush to judgment? Wouldn't there be an Outside the Lines investigation? Wouldn't there be wall-to-wall coverage? Nope. Since it's the hero of the Nation and ESPN, we get to hear David Ortiz hide behind a union suit and see ESPN give him the favored son treatment while trying to wish the story away.

3. J.J. Hardy - If I would have told you at the end of the 2008 season that a 26 year old All-Star shortstop would be in AAA less than a year later, I'm guessing you would want a little bit of what I had. Nevertheless, this is the Ballad of JJ Hardy. Batting .229 with only 11 HR's has led to Hardy's demotion. With the Brewers' top prospect Alcides Escobar taking his place, JJ's time in Milwaukee is most likely done. At least he'll have a lot of time to deal with the blues in the Nashville honkytonks.

4. Cincinnati Reds - 6-12 in August including part of a pesky little 1-14 stretch put the Reds season back in the grave where their playoff hopes have resided for the past decade. At least you can't blame ace Johnny Cueto's injury on Dusty this time, perhaps. The real reason I mention the Reds is that it gives me a chance to share one of my most favored articles of all-time.

Check out this entry from Fire Joe Morgan to see the brilliance of Reds manager Dusty Baker.

3 Races To Watch

1. AL Wild Card - (Boston, Texas, Tampa) My heart says Texas, but my head says Boston. Who do you think Uncle Bud is rooting for here? Texas has yet to prove that they can come through in a playoff race, while the Bo Sox have been here many times before. Tampa sits 4 games back, but they've been just off enough all season long to not threaten either team seriously. I guess I'll pick Boston, ugh.

2. NL Wild Card - (Colorado, SF, Florida, Atlanta) What is in that humidor that the Rockies can make these late season runs? They sit 2 in front of the Giants and 4 in front of Florida and Atlanta. However, I think the Giants will end up stealing it in the end. Would you bet against Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain?

3. AL Central - (Detroit, Chi Sox) The only real division race in the Majors is really one of the most uninteresting. Neither of these teams will do any damage if they get into the playoffs, but one of them has to make it. If Jake Peavy gets healthy, he'll help the South Siders overtake their rivals to the Northeast.