A Tale of 3 Teams in the NL West

With a record 25-9 On May 10th, the North Valley Bears had the best record in baseball.  They were in the midst of an 8 game win streak and had opened up an 8 game lead over the Shamokin Miners with a 6-4 victory over DC.

Over the following month, through June 6th to be exact, the Bears became the epitome of an average team, winning 13 of 26 with a run differential just a shade south of zero.  At the time, they still enjoyed a 6 game lead, weathering a run by Puerto Cabellas who had won 7 of 8.

Since June 7 the Bears have been outscored by 19 runs and have lost 12 of 17.  The lead on the division has become almost non-existent and they're suddenly in a tight race as the all-star break approaches.

What happened?

Since the second week in May the Bears have struggled on offense, mustering only a team OBP of .307 and ranking 19th in run scoring.  Regulars Johnny Mize, Mike Schmidt, Vlad Guerrero, Ryan Howard, and Red Schoendeinst have each had sub-.290 on base percentages, truly awful. Add to this the fact that first rounder  Willie Wells, .500 resims be damned, is an apparent bust batting .216 / .293 / .365 on the season, it takes little imagination to figure why this team has struggled.

Enter the Shamokin Miners.  Since June 5 the Miners have easily been the best team in baseball, winning 16 of 20 and outscoring their opponents 107-52, both figures tops in ATB.  While their offense has been solid,  their pitching is largely responsible for the .800 winning percentage and dominated the league.  Their team ERA is 2.37 and WHIP just 1.11, both tops in ATB as well. I don't know where to begin with the details, so lets list 'em all:

Miners ERA by Player
0.00 - Damaso Marte (4.1 IP)
0.00 - Jeff Russell (5.2 IP)
0.67 - Ray Prim (13.1 IP)
0.84 - Preacher Roe (10.2 IP)
1.50 - Fergie Jenkins (36 IP, 5-0)
2.35 - Jack Quinn (7.2 IP)
2.93 - Eddie Cicotte (30.2 IP)
3.03 - Jack Chesbro (35.2 IP)
3.72 - Scott Stratton (29.0 IP)
5.06 - Joe Sambito (5.1 IP)

Sambito is the scourge of the clubhouse, poor guy.

Similarly, the Panda's have had recent successes as well.  They kicked off an 8 game winning streak on May 5th, and ultimately won 10 of 12 before leveling off for a week.  Presently, they're enjoying a 4 game win streak to close the gap to 1.5 games and now have a percentage point lead over the Miners for the NL Wild Card. If you recall, just one team from each league is awarded a Wild Card birth.

After a slow start, both George Brett (.337 / .377 / .523 since May 5) and Tip O'Neill (.295 / .342 / .532) have turned it around while Babe Herman as had continued success, driving in 40 runners in 48 games.  Playing their home games in Fenway Park, the Panda starting pitching has struggled with a 5.30 ERA (5.67 since May 5) but the pen has been bolstered by the May 19th Wildling trade that brought in Jonathan Papelbon.  Their bullpen ERA is been 2.66 since the trade while the team has gone 23-13 with the best record in the NL.

It's too early to predict the outcome of the division though there are critical warning signs for North Valley.  Against their rivals they've won just 4 of 12 (1-7 vs the Miners).  Meanwhile, the Miners appear to be in the drivers seat having won 6 of 9 against the Pandas and 13 of 17 overall.

Regardless of who wins, it's great to see at least one division in a tight playoff race .