All-Star Musings, Part II

AL East:  Very tight race shaping up

1.  Knights
Continuing with our theme of teams playing about as expected, we have the Knights clinging to a one game lead.  Right now Boston is thriving in the division & that's what has them on top.  Earl Weaver would be proud as they're a classic, knock the tar out the ball, type team.  They've got 146 HR's already & are being led by the Gorman Thomas like Marco Stoppelman.  The rookie is really starting to come into his own.  Pitching is a bit of an adventure , but they do have some nice bullpen pieces & SP Clarence Clark is pitching pretty well.

2.  Hammer'd Leprechauns
Just a game out right now, they seem poised to be the Knights main competition.  They can hit.  They're led by two mashers, Gary Holland & all around hitter Von Byrdak .  Byrdak may actually pass last season's #'s, which saw him put up an OPS of 1.071 .  Pitching. like a lot of us, is a work in progress.  Gary Jacquez   leads the way for the SP's while closer  Richard Gordon is pretty close to automatic out of the pen. 

3.  Redtails
The Redtails are not out of it yet, but do need to get it going soon.  It's a bit of a struggle offensively for them as their team OPS is a fair amount lower then the two at the top of the division.  At just 22 years of age, Joseph Chang is leading the charge for the hitting.  The team pitching is also off to a slow start.  Unfortunately, no one really stands out on the mound, and when noticing that, it's apparent why the Redtails are in danger of falling further behind. 

4.  Daredevils
A better than .500 team last season, and just two years removed from a playoff season, this year's Daredevils are having a tough time living up to those expectations.  They're really struggling to hit the ball, with a team average of just .249.  RF BJ Pose has been a bright spot, sporting an OPS of .870 to go along with nice speed, 15 steals.  24 year old Dave Buford just may be the divisions top SP.  He's really having a nice season, but he has to get more help. 

Soon to come - AL South & AL West!