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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast..1:30pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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Baseball gets to the All Star break in Atlanta.
We take a look at who is hot-who is not..at midseason in baseball.
American League:
BLUE JAYS..A strong middle third of the season from Vlad Guerrero-Bo Bichette-George Springer and a solid rotation has them in first place. Will the Vlad-man keep slugging is the key?
YANKEES..Bit of a first half surprise considering all the losses of a ton of frontline pitching. Questions remain-can Aaron Judge continue to carry the order? Can Max Fried continue his dominance? Will Carlos Rodon not wilt in the second half? Do they have a legitimate closer?
DETROIT…Doing it with alot of home grown talent that has grown up together…Tarik Skubal remains as good as anyone on the mound but the back of the rotation seems to be fading right now.
HOUSTON..Look where they are post-Alex Bregman-Kyle Tucker? Young players from a deep farm system, and Hunter Brown-Ronel Blanco have stepped into the rotation. Josh Hader has had an electric season as closer too.
BALTIMORE..Lack of pitching has devastated them
CLEVELAND..Can hit but not enough arms
TEXAS..Poor seasons at bat and lots of nagging injuries.
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National League:
METS..Equally as surprising as to what is happening cross town with the Yankees…Putting together this first half record without 5-starting pitchers in the rotation is impressive…Now Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea are rejoining the roster. And all this despite a lousy first half from Juan Soto.
DODGERS..Big wins, big streaks, big hits, big injury problems. All this without Blake Snell-Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki on the mound. All this with a battered bullpen. All this with some Ohtani slumps, Mookie Betts illness, and injuries to Freddie Freeman-Max Muncy. Their best baseball may still be ahead of them.
PHILLIES…Not hitting homers like they have in the past, and yet a good first half with Aaron Nola and Bryce Harper having been hurt. Waiting to see what a full roster does the final 3-months of the season. Bullpen looks shaky though.
PADRES..Real Jekyl-Hyde team…Gold star bullpen…Red Flag batting order, aside from Machado, a beat up rotation, and yet hanging around staying in the wildcard race. Starting to hit coming off this Phillies series. Add Darvish-King to Pivetta and this could be a dangerous team if they can stay close to the Dodgers. Best-deepest bullpen in baseball.
CUBS…Not even sure the people at Wrigley Field expected this group to be this good. Shoto Imanaga and Matt Boyd make a good rotation. Peter Crow-Armstrong is must see TV when at bat. Role players having good seasons.
MILWAUKEE…This might be a stunner of a season, with kids like Jackson Chourio helping Christian Yelich and a rotation aiding Freddy Peralta. And now this flamethrower Jacob Misiowicz shows up on the mound.
GIANTS…A good start, but starting to fade a bit. Power in the lineup. Not hitting for average as team. Logan Webb leads a solid rotation. A feisty bullpen. And all this while Justin Verlander has gone (0-7) to start.
ATLANTA..Started bad-got worse..Acuna-Strider-Schwellenbach-Sale and more-injuries.
ARIZONA..Can hit-but you lose 4-starters with surgeries-you do not win. Alot of money on the DL.
Bring on the All Star Game-then the trading deadline. We will wait to see if the first half leaders can finish the second half of the season strong.
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