The New York Yankees have been the best team in baseball, and that should come as no surprise.  That roster is loaded (even if Joey Gallo has been absolutely terrible), and they’ve had some players who have performed better than expected.  Nestor Cortes has found his stride in his 5^th season and currently has 2.48 ERA with an 8-3 record overall.  While Joey Gallo may be an embarrassment with his .162 batting average, the Yankees have one of the biggest surprise players of the season to make up for it.

Biggest Surprise:  Matt Carpenter 

            Matt Carpenter’s career was on the brink of extinction as he wasted away on the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers triple A affiliate.  It seemed like the 36-year-old’s chances of making it back to the Majors were coming to an end as he was granted his release from the Express in May.  Soon after, he was picked up by the Yankees, and what has transpired since then is truly remarkable.  Carpenter is suddenly one of the best hitters in the league and a major contributor for the Yankees’s overwhelming offense.  In just 35 games, Carpenter has a .442 on-base percentage, .323 batting average, 1.270 OPS and 14 home runs.  What he’s doing this season simply doesn’t make sense, but it’s been incredible to witness.  It’s also been a little sad considering I’m a Rangers fan, and we just let him walk out of the building.  But it’s nice to see playing for a contender and providing meaningful at bats.  Matt Carpenter is 100% the biggest surprise player in the American League and quite possibly all Major League Baseball.

            Well, we might as well talk about the AL MVP race while we’re on the topic of the Yankees, because they have the front runner on their hands.

American League MVP Front Runner: Aaron Judge

            ALL RISE! Did I do that right?  Admittedly, I am not a fan of the Yankees.  In fact, I’ve actively rooted against them throughout my life as a baseball fan.  But their comes times in our sports lives where sometimes you just must respect greatness, even if it resides on a team you despise.  This is one of those moments.  Judge has been arguably the best player in baseball this year and without a doubt the best player in the American League.  He is the heart and soul of a Yankees’s offense that no one is going to want to see come playoff time.  The All-Star leads the MLB in runs (80), home runs (37) and total bases (232), while being second in slugging (.650), RBIs (81) and runs created (87).  He’s also 3^rd in OPS and wins above replacement.  He’s the easy choice for AL MVP, and barring some unforeseen collapse or injury, I don’t see anyone overcoming him in this race.

American League Cy Young Front Runner: Shane McClanahan

            This is going to be a close race.  A lot of people would probably go with Justin Verlander right now, but for my money, I’m rolling with Sugar Shane right now.  The American League All-Star starter has been a strikeout master thus far and has 37 more than Verlander while only pitching one more inning.  McClanahan is also sitting at a sub-two ERA with 1.76.  Verlander, to his credit, isn’t far behind at 1.86, but when the race is this close every little bit matters. 

            I wouldn’t be shocked to see Verlander pass McClanahan in this race and then pull away.  As I mentioned, this is a close race to begin with, and both really are deserving. 

Examining the Standings

            Again, the Yankees are the best team in baseball, and I believe they finish atop the American League.  Houston is very close though, so New York can’t afford to slip up.  The division races aren’t that close, but the AL Central could get interesting.  Minnesota leads the Central but only by 2.5 games over the Guardians, and the White sox are only 3 games back.  The Twins are only .500 in their last 10 games, while the Guardians and White Sox are 6-4 and 7-3 respectively.  If Minnesota wants to hold on to this division, they need get it together.  I’m going to make a bold, and probably not common, prediction and go with the White Sox to win the Central.  They have the second easiest remaining strength of schedule, and I think they take advantage of it.

            The American league wild card race is going to be exciting to watch down the stretch.  None of the three teams in the playoff picture currently should feel safe.  Both the Jays and Rays just witnessed the Mariners rip off 14 wins in a row to throw themselves into the playoff picture.  Then when they thought they only had to be concerned with Seattle, the Orioles won 10 in a row to put themselves in the conversation.  Every win matters from here on out with all these teams, and even though they’ve been a complete disaster over the last month, you can’t count out the Red Sox because of the talent they have. At the end of the day, I’m going to predict some order of Twins, Mariners, and Blue Jays in the wild card.

            Speaking of the Red Sox, that brings me to my last topic.

Biggest Disappointment: Boston Red Sox

            If I would’ve written this article three months ago, my answer to this probably would have been the Angels.  The Angels started off their season red-hot, and then fell off quicker than Mims after This is Why I’m Hot.  They have two generational talents in Ohtani and Trout and somehow aren’t even sniffing the playoffs.  They are a major disappointment; however, history should’ve been a warning to us to not put much faith in that franchise to begin with.  On the other hand, history would’ve told us to go all in on the Red Sox this season.  After all, they were just in the ALCS last postseason. 

            Those are the days of the past, because July has not been kind to the Red Sox.  Quite frankly, when you lose a game by 23 runs, “not been kind,” is an understatement.  In July, Boston has been a complete embarrassment.  I’m honestly not sure how their fans were able to watch this team.  I think they’ve lost more pop ups in the sky than they’ve won games this month.  The Sox are 6-16 this month and have fallen to the bottom of the AL East.  To make matters worse, there’s the question of what happens with their star players Devers and Bogaerts.  They made the mistake of not signing them before the season, and now both will require massive pay days.  I wonder if the Red Sox will look to move of them before the deadline rather than lose them for nothing.

            Anyways, maybe things turnaround for the Red Sox, but it seems unlikely.  Their season can be summed up in the following video.