Congratulations Boston Red Sox

[sinkhole]

They played a great first half and are a much better team then I thought at the start. They will be fun to battle down the stretch.

Tampa heads to the break scorching winning 16 of 20. Next week in NY and Boston will be very interesting.

 

[Danzz]

The Ray's pitching scares me especially when we get to the dog days of August. Baltimore will likely fall short because of their comparatively weak starting pitching. The Yankees are too old and not healthy enough to make a run to the end. For the Sox a lot depends on Bucholz-without him in the rotation they look more like a .500 team which may still be enough to win the AL East or make the playoffs.
I see it as a Rays/Sox race but every AL East team is flawed so anything can happen.

 

[60'sfan]

I wouldn't count the Orioles out. They may have better position players than anyone in the AL East. The best thing about the Sox might be their future. Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley and Garin Cecchini are almost sure to make the team by next year. Alex Hassan is another possibility. Starting pitchers are plentiful: Rubby De La Rosa, Alan Webster, Brandon Workman, Drake Britton and Anthony Ranaudo. Whoops, add 20 year old, 6' 6" lefthander Henry Owens to the mix. He just pitched a no-no yesterday. I also think that between Joel Hanrahan, Koji Uehara and Andrew Bailey they will find a reliable closer. Actually the closer of the future could be Jon Lester or Rubby De La Rosa.

 

[kibblesnbits]

They played a great first half and are a much better team then I thought at the start. They will be fun to battle down the stretch.

Tampa heads to the break scorching winning 16 of 20. Next week in NY and Boston will be very interesting.

Tampa has pitching and an excellent manager so they can never be counted out. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks. One thing to remember about the Rays scorching finish pre-All Star break was that their final 14 games were against the three worst teams in the league (Houston, Minn and Chicago) with 10 of them at home. They won the games they were supposed to win so they deserve credit, but it will get tougher for everyone from here.

 

[sinkhole]

Tampa has pitching and an excellent manager so they can never be counted out. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks. One thing to remember about the Rays scorching finish pre-All Star break was that their final 14 games were against the three worst teams in the league (Houston, Minn and Chicago) with 10 of them at home. They won the games they were supposed to win so they deserve credit, but it will get tougher for everyone from here.

This years Tampa team may be the best Maddon has had. I think they have the best defense in the AL led by Yunel Escobar who has been amazing at ss. If Cobb comes back healthy in early August they should have the best rotation in baseball down the stretch. The big three rookies Myers, Archer and Torres will be fun to watch battle for ROY.


Boston had the Rays number in the first half winning 9 of 12. Lots of bad blood between the teams due to Lackey being a . I think there will be a lot of drama at fenwat coming up.

 

[60'sfan]

This years Tampa team may be the best Maddon has had. I think they have the best defense in the AL led by Yunel Escobar who has been amazing at ss. If Cobb comes back healthy in early August they should have the best rotation in baseball down the stretch. The big three rookies Myers, Archer and Torres will be fun to watch battle for ROY.


Boston had the Rays number in the first half winning 9 of 12. Lots of bad blood between the teams due to Lackey being a . I think there will be a lot of drama at fenwat coming up.

I've not seen Yunel Escobar play, but he cannot be better than Iglesias. Would not argue with the rotation.