When you think of the teams that generally gravitate near the bottom of the standings, the same names come up: Pittsburgh, Washington, Arizona, Seattle, Cleveland etc. This season, there has been a shift in the balance of power. Sure, your teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Phillies, and Cardinals are among the best teams in baseball. But it’s the tier underneath them, those teams battling around the .500 mark, that has undergone a huge shift.
There were seven teams in baseball last season that finished with 90 or more losses. This season, of those 90 loss teams, all of them but the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles are hovering around the .500 mark. In fact, the Indians are still leading the AL Central. The 101 loss Seattle Mariners are only three games out in the AL West, and the pathetic 105 loss Pittsburgh Pirates earned sole possession of second place in the NL Central, only a game and a half behind the Cardinals. The 97 loss Arizona Diamondbacks are a game and a half out in the AL West as well. The only 90 loss team around that .500 mark that isn’t really in contention is the Washington Nationals, who are a game above .500 in the NL East, but 11 games out behind the fantastic Phillies, and seven games behind the Braves in the race for the NL wild card.
Why are these teams contending? Pitching is one key factor. The Mariners, Pirates, and Nationals are all in the top ten in the majors in team ERA. The turnaround in Pittsburgh is incredible remarkable, when you consider that the team has shaved a run and a half off its ERA from last season, going from 5.00 to 3.42. The only team who hasn’t gotten fantastic pitching is the Diamondbacks, but when you consider that their team ERA last year was 4.81, that 4.09 mark this year looks pretty good.
Strangely, pitching is pretty much the only reason that these teams have improved. The Indians, Pirates, and Mariners are all in the bottom third of the league in team OPS, with the Indians just outside that bottom third. The only team with an above average offense is Arizona, the team that had the below average pitching staff.
Will the comeback kids hold up as the second half of the season goes on? Its anyone’s best guess. But the future is looking bright in these five cities.
