And like that, the first half of the 2024 MLB season is in the books. It's a large enough sample size to have us all pretty confident in the product each team's bringing the field every night, but as we all know-- with baseball, everything can change in the span of one pitch.
Home Run Derby tonight, All-Star Game is Wednesday, should be a fun little week here. In the meantime, let's look back at some of the standouts over the last 3.5 months.
The Good
Bobby Witt Jr. and the Kansas City Royals
There's always a preseason media darling or two in sports at the beginning of new seasons, but the Kansas City Royals weren't on too many radars after spring training. Fast forward to the All-Star Break and they're sitting at 52-45 overall, trailing Cleveland in the AL Central but well in the thick of the Wild Card hunt. Resurgences from pitchers Seth Lugo and Brady Singer have been a big part of the success, but nobody on the team has been as integral as Bobby Witt Jr.
After signing a hefty extension in February, $228 mil over the next 11 years, Witt's gone on to produce a .323/16/63 line through the first 97 games of 2024. He's every bit of the catalyst the organization's expected him to be when they selected him second overall in the 2019 draft and will be looking like a bargain sooner than later if his production keeps up.
Corbin Burnes and Gunnar Henderson
What an absolute splash by GM Mike Elias to acquire ace Corbin Burnes this February. For the relatively modest price of DL Hall and Joey Ortiz, the Orioles were able to get a pitcher of the highest echelon-- unlike any in black and orange during my lifetime. And boy, has it paid off. A 9-4 record, 2.43 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 19 starts-- inserting himself firmly into the AL Cy Young conversation moving forward.
To make matters more fun, a hot MVP candidate is in this Baltimore lineup too. Gunnar Henderson's been a revelation for the Birds', ripping .286/28/63 through 96 games, shattering expectations set during his 2023 Rookie of the Year campaign. They're an elite tandem, quite possibly the best hitter/pitcher combo in the entire league. With talent like that, no wonder the O's are sitting 20 games over .500.
The Phillies' pitching
This section could easily be dedicated to Philadelphia's first half performance as a whole, but the rotation in particular has been spectacular. They currently lead the entire league in wins, ERA, strikeouts -- some of which by significant margins-- and are second in quality starts and OBA. With Atlanta facing significant injury issues, the NL East seems all but locked up by this elite unit.
Aaron Judge
As outstanding as the aforementioned Gunnar Henderson's been, Aaron Judge has been even superior. The pure power hitter's rocking a .306 batting average, plus a league-leading 34 home runs, 85 RBI and 1.103 OPS, priming himself for a second Most Valuable Player award this November. His Yankees on the other hand...rocky start to the summer for them. How long until his hitting coach is back in the headlines calling the franchise's struggles out?
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| Photo: Getty Images |
Elly de la Cruz' wheels
We're witnessing a potentially historic season from the Reds' up and coming star. While his pace has slowed some over the last two months, the shortstop has swiped 46 bags on 55 attempts, already shattering his career high. At this rate, he's set to accrue 78 on the year, which would tie Jose Reyes' 78 stolen bases in 2007-- the record for most this millennium. Cincy's got arguably the most electric player in the league.
Marcell Ozuna
In a year where the Braves have lost an All-Star team due to injuries, the 33-year old veteran has been a consistently productive presence in their lineup. He's currently on pace to hit 44 long balls and drive in 131, which would each be career highs. The Atlanta faithful will likely be long wondering what this season could've been with a healthier roster.
The Bad
Corbin Carroll
The reigning NL Rookie of the Year was incredible in 2023, posting a .285/25/76 line in 155 games for the D-Backs-- on top of 54 stolen bases on 59 attempts. 2024 has been the polar opposite, with the 23-year old currently producing pathetic .212/.301/.334 slashes with an OPS of .635-- 230 points lower than the previous season. Baseball's a fickle game, and Carroll likely has a stellar career ahead of him yet, but it's been a forgettable chapter in his story thus far.
The Reds
If you listen to the podcast, you'll know how high my hopes were for Cincinnati this season. While things haven't been atrocious...they certainly haven't been good either. Rising stars Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand landing on the 60-day IL hasn't helped things, but there's been plenty of other issues. Spencer Steer's currently regressing, hitting 30 points less than he was in 2023. Young talents like Will Benson and Noelvi Marte have failed to seize opportunities. Some really quality starting pitching from Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo has been wasted by the inconsistent bunch. Luckily for them, the NL Wild Card is wide open for a hot team to grab a hold of that final spot, but the lineup needs a real spark.
Adolis Garcia
This one feels a little personal due to fantasy baseball, but the Rangers' power hitting outfielder is well in the midst of his worst professional campaign. His .211/.277/.405 slashes are tough to stomach, plus only 17 home runs and 45 RBI pacing him to set career lows by some wide margins.
Jesus Luzardo
Orioles fans heard the constant chatter this offseason linking the franchise to the Marlins' ace, often for a price point that felt way too high given the fact that he'd only had two seasons in his career with an ERA under four. Good thing all those armchair GM's aren't in charge because the lefty has been terrible for Miami. Before hitting the 60-day IL with a lumbar stress reaction, Luzardo had an ERA of 5.00, with an unimpressive 2.6 K:BB rate and a career worst 7.8 K/9. We'll see if the 26-year old can turn it around if/when he comes back from this ailment, but it's all but guaranteed that he won't be anywhere near a playoff hunt.
The Blue Jays
Possibly some AL East bias here, but is there any team more fun to root against then the Toronto Blue Jays? For the last few years, they've hyped themselves up as the best thing since sliced bread-- with all the home grown talent in the world, a marquee trade for Jose Berrios to bolster the rotation, enough success to give the impression of being on the precipice.
It's all come crashing down this year. 44-52 going into the break, 14 games behind the division leading Orioles and 9.5 out of a pretty stacked wildcard hunt. Given the returns they might command in what may be a thin trade market, it wouldn't be surprising to see them selling by the end of the month.
The Ugly
The White Sox
A 27-71 record. Ten different losing streaks of four or more games, including a 14-game stretch bridging May and June. Andrew Vaughn, their "best" qualified hitter, is rocking a .237/11/43 line, while Luis Robert, their actual top batter, has regressed substantially, crushing his trade value in the eyes of many. Garrett Crochet has been a nice surprise, but he may be the sole bright spot on the squad. If you look up hapless in the dictionary, you'll see this Sox logo.
The Luis Arraez trade by Miami
After starting the year 9-24, it made sense why Miami would move on from their elite shortstop. But with Arraez having a year and a half of team control, it felt like the return was pretty minimal. Yes, they got three guys (Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella) who are now in their top 11 prospects, but none have shown a ton of production thus far in the minors. They DFA'd reliever Woo-Suk Go shortly after the deal too, instead of trying to flip him for another prospect or two.
Trade packages like this one make me really skeptical of how high some of these names on the block are truly being valued.
Pablo Lopez
Funny enough, the man who Miami swapped for Arraez is also having a terrible season of his own up in Minnesota. The long-time ace has been woefully mediocre for the Twins, going 8-7 through 19 starts with a hefty 5.11 ERA. His strikeout rates have been in line with expectations, but opposing batters are hitting him as effectively as they have since before the pandemic. With the team well in the midst of the playoff race, it'll be interesting to see the role Lopez is handed during bigger moments.
The Surprising
The World Champion Texas Rangers
A strong start to July made this first half a little more palatable for the reigning World Series Champs, but these last few months weren't great. Injuries were a key part of that, with big names like Evan Carter, Corey Seager, Josh Jung, Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom missing chunks of time-- among many others. They currently sit at 46-50, just 5 games behind Seattle in what's been a surprisingly unimpressive AL West. Far from out of the hunt, especially with the reinforcements they have on the way, but not where we thought we'd find Texas at this point.
Luis Gil
Coming into the season, it felt like the Yankees' rotation was going to have some issues until Gerrit Cole returned from the IL. That ended up not being the case, with Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman and Carlos Rodon all producing at respectable levels for the Bombers.
However, none were more impressive than rookie Luis Gil, whose risen from a relatively unknown arm to a Cy Young candidate before our very eyes. Recent struggles at the end of June sparked rumors about possibly shutting him down to preserve his long-term outlook, but two strong starts to end the first half have quelled such reports. The 26-year old is 10-5 overall with a 3.17 ERA and 10.4 K/9, firmly establishing himself as the #2 starter in Pinstripes.
Jurickson Profar
While a .238 July has cooled Profar down some, his first half was far and away the best ball we've ever seen from the journeymen outfielder, finishing with a .305/14/59 line in 97 games. He's been the Padres most consistent player, helping steady the perpetually underachieving team while guys like Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts cash the big checks and underperform. If Jurickson can maintain this pace, he'll shatter most of his personal bests at the plate, priming himself for a decent little payday this offseason.
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@Choppinglines
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