15 Weeks In: MLB: Power Rankings, Matchups, Highlights and more

We’re back! I took a little Independence Day (week) break, but we now return to our regularly scheduled programming. The disparity in the AL East is still absurd with the two best teams in the league sharing a division with the worst. Meanwhile, the Houston Astros continue to be the outside threat to challenge for the American League throne. The Boston Red Sox have the best record in baseball, the National League can’t seem to sort out their top dogs, and the Baltimore Orioles absolutely stink. Poor Manny Machado. Run while you still can man. Now let’s get to some highlights.

Top Three Plays

The Best Play Ever?

Not A Bad Day

Great Catch, Great Reaction

What To Watch

You’re going to want to pay special attention to the Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays series this week. How can I justify calling the first-place Red Sox vs. the floundering Blue Jays the series to watch this week? Well it’s not every day you see history.

To my memory (and a quick bit of research), no team has ever had more than 65 wins by the All-Star break. The Red Sox currently have 62 with seven games to go. That means a sweep of the Texas Rangers could tie the record and if the benchmark does get surpassed, it’ll happen against the Jays in Boston.

Granted, this is a moving scale as not every team has played an equal amount of games, particularly throughout the years. But the Baltimore Orioles had 65 wins and 31 losses when they set the bar in 1969 and the Red Sox could potentially be better in both the win and loss columns. To put it in perspective, the best single season record is 116 wins (Seattle Mariners, 2001) followed by 114 wins (New York, 1998) and the Red Sox are currently on pace for 110.

Amazingly, despite the historic season, the New York Yankees are nestled just two games behind the Sox and could also technically surpass that 65-win mark. They would need to win their next 8 in a row; unlikely but not impossible. The Houston Astros are only one win behind the Red Sox with some very beatable teams on their pre-break schedule. So theoretically, we could have three separate ball clubs heading into the all-star break on historic pace.

Suffice it to say, this is one of the winningest seasons in MLB history. That, unfortunately, is paired with some historic losers but such is the balance of life. The Baltimore Orioles are already 37 games back in the AL East!! But enough negativity, let’s kick back and continue enjoying some July baseball. Unless, of course, you’re a fan of the Baltimore Orioles. You guys should probably just root for someone else.

Power Rankings