by joethejet » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:16 pm
Ok, I'm sure you guys are waiting with bated breath for the analysis of the final three teams. ;) So, without further ado, away we go (hmmm, can I get a few more cliches in here? :D)
Smokey - Smoke is right about his ratings, a little low in O, but right on the money on D. Record is a little low, but as close as things are, that can change quickly. WAY below in Run Diff! He *does* have the best rating in the Central so, assuming C2 comes back to Earth, the ratings would expect him to close that gap and make it a close race. Wright and Holliday aren't doing much for him, neither is Upton. True he's in Petco, but the road numbers aren't appreciably different. Shell has been lights out for him and Shouse has 5 saves. Not bad for a .58 guy! ;) Murphy and Markakis and Panda *are* hitting well for him. Victor too.
Warrior - Again, pretty much on the ratings. A little low in run diff, O and overall, but a right on in pitching. A pitching team so will need to win the close games. A little below the Expected W/L so he's probably not winning most of those right now. Youky is his only real expensive hitter and he's struggling, prolly more than he should be. Polanco is also notable in his lack of average. It *is* a 1-13 park after all. Kuo and Geary have been as advertised and Pinto has kept the ball in the park v LHB. Santana has struggled a bit, but Shields and Volquez have picked up the slack.
Big M - A tiny bit low across the board, but close overall. Harden has been awful and that's hurt him. Really no one on his pitching staff has stood out. Offensively, Molina has been a surprise, but Kinsler is a little low and Han Ram has struggled. Same for Furcal. In fact, vizquel has a higher average! :shock: Furcal's OB has been pretty good however.
Overall the ratings would say the following:
East - Probably the toughest division. Jeep and Stoney are neck and neck with Big A not very far back. Hawk *should* be in the East again next time around. (By the ratings, not necessarily my thought) - [b:f50db7ebdb]Reality[/b:f50db7ebdb]- Stoney is running away with it and Jeep is struggling to keep up due to his lower than expected offensive output. Big A has struggled across the board and Hawk is winning close games to keep him out of the cellar.
Central - Most balanced of the divisions Smokey has the best ratings and would be expected to win it most of the time. The other three are so close you really can't pick between them.
[b:f50db7ebdb]Reality[/b:f50db7ebdb] C2 has majorly over performed offensively and is in command. The only thing that has kept him from running away is his lousy one run game record. Smokey is within striking distance. The other two have pretty much slightly underperformed. If C2 was in line, this division would be right on the ratings. ;)
West - Ratings say that the Burgundy should win it and Silver will be in the WC race. NP and AT should be also rans. [b:f50db7ebdb]Reality[/b:f50db7ebdb] Silver and Burgundy are flipped and AT has beaten enough LHP (14-5) to stay above .500. NP should be better than he's played by the ratings.
The ratings are what they are. You never know what's going to happen. Usually you have one too high and one too low. Right now, Big A is the under and AT and Hawk are over.
FWIW,
Jet