Hottest teams out of All-Star Break
Editor’s note: All records and stats were compiled before Tuesday night’s games.
Since the All Star Break, the Pinstriped Evil Empire have been mowing through their opponents, amassing the league’s best record for the second half at 18-6. Behind this surge, and Boston’s collapse, they have been able to turn a three game deficit into a 5 ½ AL East lead. This hasn’t only been detrimental to my futures wagers; it also just makes me sad. If the Yankees are doing well, it’s pretty safe to assume that I am not.
As much as it pains me, I have to give credit where it’s due. Their starting pitching has been solid and when needed, closer Mariano Rivera has been lights out once again. Mark Teixeira (.286, 29 hr, 83 rbi) has begun to string together some clutch performances to justify his monstrous off-season contract. Derek Jeter (.315, 74 runs, 20 SB) has been sipping from the same fountain as Rivera, but it has been Robinson Cano (.315, 31 2B, 17 hr) who has bounced back from a down 2008 season to do his part in leading New York to the best record in baseball. Cano impresses me more and more each time I watch him play.
But these are the Yankees, and as long as they have players that I love to hate like Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain and Jorge Posada, it’s going to be difficult for me to enjoy laying any money on them. So I took a look at all of the best teams since the All Star Break, along with their units.
One team just off the pace as far as record goes, but near the top in units won is the Washington Nationals (14-11, +612). The fact that they own this impressive second half mark becomes even more remarkable when you realize that they lost their first five games returning from the break. Their current eight game win streak has definitely been profitable to those insane enough to back the Nats.
Washington has also been putting up plenty of runs. The Over is 15-10 during this same stretch. Even more recently, the Over has hit in 12 of their last 14 games. Take it from the guy who watched them put up six runs in the 8th inning last week to kill his very promising Under play. I’m not going to lie, that one hurt.
There is one team on this list that surprises me (Cleveland) and another that I fully expected to see there (Colorado).
The Indians have been winning despite trading away half of their team. As you might expect, they have been sizable dogs in many of their wins, putting an even bigger smile on the faces of their insane bettors. Nine of their 13 wins have come against a favored opponent. How much longer can this continue? I definitely see this pace cooling down a bit as they head into series against Texas, Minnesota and the Angels. I expected early success for the Indians at the beginning of the year. But now just the thought of playing this dismantled team scares the hell out of me.
At the very beginning of July I wrote about the Colorado Rockies, and how I expected nothing but continued success for them. More than anything, it was the cupcake schedule that they had lined up that had me excited. This same thought process holds true today. 28 of their remaining 50 games will be against Pittsburgh, Washington, New York Mets, Arizona, Cincinnati, San Diego and Milwaukee. If the Rockies don’t claim the NL Wild Card spot, winning ticket holders bundles of cash along the way, I’ll be some baffled Bread.
Back to those Yankees – I have no idea if they can continue this pace to close the season. After completely demoralizing the Red Sox this past weekend with a four game sweep, they are certainly riding the wave of confidence. Of their remaining 48 games, 20 come against laughing stocks like Toronto, Oakland, Baltimore and Kansas City. 15 more will have them facing contenders and rivals Boston, Tampa Bay and the Angels. Either way, you can be sure to eat some heavy chalk the rest of the season. If that’s your thing, have at it. I’ll probably be inclined to stick with the teams that have gotten me here in Colorado and Florida. Here’s to a profitable stretch run for all of us.
Since the All Star Break, the Pinstriped Evil Empire have been mowing through their opponents, amassing the league’s best record for the second half at 18-6. Behind this surge, and Boston’s collapse, they have been able to turn a three game deficit into a 5 ½ AL East lead. This hasn’t only been detrimental to my futures wagers; it also just makes me sad. If the Yankees are doing well, it’s pretty safe to assume that I am not.
As much as it pains me, I have to give credit where it’s due. Their starting pitching has been solid and when needed, closer Mariano Rivera has been lights out once again. Mark Teixeira (.286, 29 hr, 83 rbi) has begun to string together some clutch performances to justify his monstrous off-season contract. Derek Jeter (.315, 74 runs, 20 SB) has been sipping from the same fountain as Rivera, but it has been Robinson Cano (.315, 31 2B, 17 hr) who has bounced back from a down 2008 season to do his part in leading New York to the best record in baseball. Cano impresses me more and more each time I watch him play.
Teixiera earning that money
- New York Yankees 18-6 +847
- Los Angeles Angels 17-7 +922
- Chicago Cubs 16-7 +514
- Atlanta Braves 15-9 +518
- Colorado Rockies 15-9 +418
- St. Louis Cardinals 14-9 +293
- Texas Rangers 14-9 +632
- Cleveland Indians 13-9 +800
- Florida Marlins 13-9 +466
One team just off the pace as far as record goes, but near the top in units won is the Washington Nationals (14-11, +612). The fact that they own this impressive second half mark becomes even more remarkable when you realize that they lost their first five games returning from the break. Their current eight game win streak has definitely been profitable to those insane enough to back the Nats.
Washington has also been putting up plenty of runs. The Over is 15-10 during this same stretch. Even more recently, the Over has hit in 12 of their last 14 games. Take it from the guy who watched them put up six runs in the 8th inning last week to kill his very promising Under play. I’m not going to lie, that one hurt.
There is one team on this list that surprises me (Cleveland) and another that I fully expected to see there (Colorado).
The Indians have been winning despite trading away half of their team. As you might expect, they have been sizable dogs in many of their wins, putting an even bigger smile on the faces of their insane bettors. Nine of their 13 wins have come against a favored opponent. How much longer can this continue? I definitely see this pace cooling down a bit as they head into series against Texas, Minnesota and the Angels. I expected early success for the Indians at the beginning of the year. But now just the thought of playing this dismantled team scares the hell out of me.
At the very beginning of July I wrote about the Colorado Rockies, and how I expected nothing but continued success for them. More than anything, it was the cupcake schedule that they had lined up that had me excited. This same thought process holds true today. 28 of their remaining 50 games will be against Pittsburgh, Washington, New York Mets, Arizona, Cincinnati, San Diego and Milwaukee. If the Rockies don’t claim the NL Wild Card spot, winning ticket holders bundles of cash along the way, I’ll be some baffled Bread.
Back to those Yankees – I have no idea if they can continue this pace to close the season. After completely demoralizing the Red Sox this past weekend with a four game sweep, they are certainly riding the wave of confidence. Of their remaining 48 games, 20 come against laughing stocks like Toronto, Oakland, Baltimore and Kansas City. 15 more will have them facing contenders and rivals Boston, Tampa Bay and the Angels. Either way, you can be sure to eat some heavy chalk the rest of the season. If that’s your thing, have at it. I’ll probably be inclined to stick with the teams that have gotten me here in Colorado and Florida. Here’s to a profitable stretch run for all of us.
Bread’s bread & butter
