Let’s start with this, it has been a weird and strange year to date. The fact that there is actual Baseball being played, no matter who is playing well and who is not, makes a lot of people happy. Yes, there is nothing better than going to the ballpark with your family, friends, or coworkers, eating food that is terrible for you, and possibly having too many drinks. But even with this shortened year, there are some teams and players that need major shoutouts, the good, the bad, and the surprising.
Baltimore Orioles: 10-7
If someone were to tell me before this season started that there was a chance that the Baltimore Orioles record was going to be above .500, I would have laughed and said not a chance. Let’s be honest on paper the roster looks like it would be a decent AAA team, but as an MLB team, it didn’t seem likely it was going to be a fun season for the Orioles faithful. But here they are proving everyone wrong including myself. Offensively they are top 10 in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS. When it comes to the pitching staff, they are as middle of the pack as you can get in almost every stat. There are 43 games left in this shortened season, do I think they will finish with a winning record, no, but I think they will get extremely close, maybe 31-29, if they play all 60 games. The unfortunate part for the Orioles is they have to consistently play teams that may not be doing well right now but have consistently proven they are playoff contenders, Nationals, Braves, Rays, and Yankees, just to name a few. But Baseball is a funny game, and anything can happen.
Colorado Rockies: 12-6
The Rockies to me aren’t as much of a surprise for how much their offense is dominating right now, let’s be honest their lineup is stacked. The Rockies offense is Top 3 in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS. The most surprising thing that I am seeing is how well they are playing in a division that has 4 out of 5 teams that are not only playoff contenders but could be serious World Series contenders. The Rockies are 6-4 at Home this year where it is supposed to be a “Hitters Dream”, but the Pitching staff is top 10 in ERA, WHIP, and HRs, they are currently 1st in HRs given up as I don’t count the Cardinals since that have played a total of 5 games this year. Everyone in MLB better take a good hard look at the Rockies and take them very seriously as a World Series Contender, not only this year but if they stay together as a team they will be contenders for many years moving forward.
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
Watching Tatis Jr. hit is just electric, flat out electric. He does not get as much love as he should since he plays on the West Coast, and a lot of fans on the East Coast do not get to see him unless it’s in the highlights the next morning. So if you have not seen Tatis Jr. play baseball yet, you are missing out. He doesn’t just do it with his bat, he has crazy speed, an entire highlight reel of defensive wizardry and a CANNON for an arm. Tatis is hitting .304, he is 1st or 2nd in HR, RBI, and SB. Top 10 in SLG and just outside the top 10 in OPS. The biggest surprise, he is only 20 years old and at this rate he will be a top player in the MLB for many, many years to come.
Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies
Blackmon is a seasoned veteran as he made his debut in 2011. This year for Backmon so far is just different. In the last four years, Blackmon has hit over .300 for 3 of those years and hitting 29-37 HRs. But let’s talk about what he has done this year, he is hitting a massive .472, has a OBP of .506, has collected 34 hits, and has 20 RBIs, which are all 1st in MLB. Oh, and by the way he is 2nd in OPS at 1.187 and in runs scored at 18. These numbers are amazing, if you dive deep into Balckmon’s numbers, it has been obvious that he was capable of putting up numbers like these, and now that he is putting them together it is amazing to watch. I know I have the Rockies as one of my surprise teams, but if this continues no one can say the Rockies are not a top contender for the World Series.
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