Thoughts on the diamond

By Staff
Justin Schuver, Sports Editor
Even though it's still relatively early in the major league baseball season, there are still several trends that are noticeable.
The NL East might be the most balanced division in baseball – As of Tuesday morning, the records of NL East teams against their own division opponents was an uncanny 79-79. Everybody from the division-leading Mets to the cellar-dwelling Nationals have floated around .500 against other NL East foes (The breakdown is: the Mets are 15-14 against the NL East, the Braves are 18-18, the Phillies are 15-15, the Marlins are 17-18 and the Nationals are 14-14). Weird.
The Yankees aren't out of the playoff hunt just yet – Although the Yankees appear to be out of the race for the AL East division, it is important to remember that teams have come back from similar deficits even far later in the season. Most noticeably, in 1993 the Braves trailed the Giants by 9.5 games on August 8, but eventually went on to win the division on the last day of the season. Even if the Yankees don't catch Boston, they still have more than a shot at the wild card, where New York currently trails Detroit by 5.5 games. After starting the year with a grueling schedule, things get considerably easier for the Yankees down the stretch. Of their 27 games in September, only six are against teams who currently have winning records (three against the Mariners and three against the Red Sox).
And don't count out the Cubs, either – At the start of the season, it looked as if the young Milwaukee Brewers were going to easily run away with the NL Central. It also looked as if the Cubs were imploding, becoming the laughingstock of baseball with everything from a teammate-to-teammate fight to manager Lou Piniella's four-game suspension. But a funny thing happened after Sweet Lou's tirade – the Cubbies started to win. Chicago has won six of its last 10 and is trails Milwaukee by 5.5 games in the Central. Chicago has one of the best pitching rotations in baseball, a who-the-heck-are-these-guys staff of Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, Jason Marquis, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs are also a capable offensive club – only the Mets have a higher team batting average in the NL – and they'll only get stronger once Aramis Ramirez returns from the disabled list.
The National League is loaded at shortstop this year – In 2002, there were four shortstops having All-Star worthy seasons, creating an instant debate when it came to which of the four should be the league's starter in that year's Midsummer Classic. Those four shortstops were New York's Derek Jeter, Boston's Nomar Garciaparra, Texas' Alex Rodriguez and Oakland's Miguel Tejada. Although the NL's crop this season isn't quite as potent, it's still a lot of talent at the shortstop position. You can make an argument that there are at least five premier shortstops in the Senior Circuit – Atlanta's Edgar Renteria, Florida's Hanley Ramirez, New York's Jose Reyes, Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins and Milwaukee's J.J. Hardy.
San Diego could be a tough first-round matchup – It seems like every season there is one team that makes the playoffs and knocks off a higher-caliber opponent in the division series (which is only best-of-five and puts a premium on pitching). If the Padres make the playoffs, they could easily be that team this season. San Diego's offense doesn't scare anyone (the Padres hit a National League-low .242 as a team) but their top two pitchers are among the very best, one of the main reasons why the Padres have a league-best 3.00 ERA as a team. Jake Peavy and Chris Young are both younger than 30, and are in the top five in the NL in ERA, WHIP and batting average against.