30 for 30 League (PART III -- All Star Voting plus Standings/Stats after 92 games)

 92 games have been completed in the full 162 game season in Year 1 of the 30 for 30 league! Thanks to Savard the Goat's simulator, we've got full stats for all the hitters and pitchers.... which lets us do all star voting! So check out the updated standings, enjoy the present narratives, peep the oddball/significant statistical games from Part III.... and then feast your eyes on all the stats/leaderboards before VOTING FOR THE ALL STAR GAME. That's right, below is the link to the Google Form I made to vote for the All Star Game starters. Next weekend, the All Star teams will be announced!

We know Mark McGwire is essentially an All Star lock, but will his teammate Giambi join him on the AL All Stars and are these time-crossed Bash Bros leading the A's back to 1st in the AL West after 92 games?

Now, it's time to see how the standings have fluctuated!

STANDINGS

AMERICAN LEAGUE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NARRATIVES

After 92 games, no one has run away with a division, but favorites have certainly emerged, with only two divisions features leads of 4 games or less. The tightest race is in the AL East, where Boston and Tampa are tied for the division lead with 70 games to play. That's right, Tampa fully closed the 7 game gap that existed after Part II by going 18-12 while Boston struggled to an 11-19 mark in Part III. This should also serve as inspiration for other managers out there, as a 5-10 game deficit can be easily erased. The Yankees gained went 17-13 and gained a couple spots closer to the division too, sitting at 45-47 and easily in striking distance. If CC Sabathia figures out what's going wrong for him, they could make a run in a hurry. Sadly, Baltimore and Toronto feel pretty out of it -- the Blue Jays can't score (worst offense through 90 games) and the Orioles can't stop opposing runners from coming around the bases with their +1 OF (turns out, outfield defense *does* matter). The AL East big three figure to be battling until season's end!

Part III allowed the Guardians to obtain some separation over the other AL Central teams, opening a 5 game lead on KC and Detroit after all five teams were bunched within five games last time. The Guardians relied upon the third-best offense in the game to go 17-13 in Part III. Detroit simply kept pace with Cleveland, which moved the Tigers from last to third as a result. Everyone else slipped a bit, with Minnesota getting hurt the most with a 12-18 Part III. However, they maintain the second best run differential in the division and shouldn't be counted out! Everyone is still within seven games of Cleveland, who appears to be relying heavily on the shoulders of MVP-candidate Manny Ramirez.

The best team in the American League through 92 games is inarguably the Los Angeles Angels, who have a great claim to being the best team in the 30 for 30 league! LAA is the only AL team over 50 wins (55-37), leads the AL in runs scored, and leads the AL in runs allowed. With a 101 run differential, best in baseball, the Angels are looking like the team to beat. Shohei Ohtani has to be in the MVP running with his pitching/hitting prowess helping the Angels sail to a 19-11 record in Part III, expanding their lead over Oakland and Houston to 7 games each. Meanwhile, Texas faces the opposite issues of LA, falling to 20 games below .500 and a miserable -100 run differential. They're tied with Baltimore for the worst team in the American League. Houston and Oakland would be playing a Game 163 for the second wild card spot if the season ended today, and both figure to be in strong playoff contention to the very end. Houston is particularly scary, but Oakland's got the MVP Favorite in Mark McGwire (MLB leader in HR, OBP, AVG, SLG) to carry them! Seattle went a quiet 18-12 to move to two games back of .500. They feel too far removed to make a run at the division, but they're still in the wild card hunt!

As a pitcher, Ohtani is 7-5 with a 3.48 ERA and 11.35 K/9 with over 108 IP in 18 GS

 

As a hitter, Ohtani is slugging .575 thanks to 26 HR. He's also hitting .260/.354 with 64 RBI and a fun trio of triples!

Over in the National League, the Marlins continue their underdog run by maintaining their 6 game lead over Philadelphia, as both teams went .500 in Part III. Troubling for Miami has to be Philly's superior run differential, but they're hanging on tight at the 92 game mark. Leading the way is #5 overall pick Gary Sheffield, who's second in baseball in OBP. The Phillies have to feel confident with Ryan Howard absolutely crushing the ball in the heart of the order while the pitching staff allows the fewest runs in the MLB. That sort of run prevention bodes well for a run at the division crown! The rest of the division faltered in their 30 games vs the 10 NL Central and 10 NL West teams. Well, except for Montreal -- 17-13 for the division record in Part III... but it feels like too little, too late at this juncture and 17 games back. The Mets went 11-19, falling hard from being 2 games over .500 to looking way up in the standings at Miami and the best wild card contenders. Atlanta fared similarly and at 42-50 is going to need a huge Part IV to be in the wild card race entering the final part.

Whew.... the Brewers absolutely took off in Part III, going 24-6 like the Marlins in Part I, and now have the best record in baseball as a result, 62-30. Just like that, the 17-13 record for Cardinals and 18-12 record for Cubs in Part III cost both those teams an extra 6/7 games in the standings, letting Milwaukee open up a 8 game lead on STL and 9 on CHC. Really sneaky in Part III was Pittsburgh, who went 21-9 vs the other NL divisions. Even Cincinnati went 14-16. These NL Central teams absolutely smacked down the rest of the National League and ended up losing significant ground. They're going to need a big Part IV to enter Part V in striking distance.

The NL West is one of the quieter division races because three teams are undoubted disappointments so far, although San Diego's positive run differential gives a glimmer of hope for a run in the final 70 games to compete for a wild card (and maybe strike at the division, they only trail by 6 games). However, Colorado and San Fran had a disastrous first 92 and Part III. Indeed, SF went 8-22, effectively ending their season. Wright hasn't done any better for the Rockies, as he's now 0-13 with a 11.36 ERA while the Rockies are 38-54 overall (albeit with the most runs scored in baseball.... and a -40 run differential). Meanwhile, the Dodgers again kept pace with Arizona, whose division lead remains a nerve-wracking 2 games. Arizona is relying mostly on pitching to get the job done and are really hoping the bullpen, led by Brad Ziegler's 30 saves, can hold it together for 70 more games.

The MVP McCutchen card helped Pittsburgh to the NL's second-best record in Part III by hitting .368/.459/.518 

with 18 RBI, 18 R and 14 SB in that 30-game stretch

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF NOTE

• No complete game shutout from Pedro this time, but there's some from each of the following:

• TEX Cliff Lee
• TOR Roger Clemens (x2!)
• CLE Charles Nagy
• NYM Matt Harvey

• CIN Reggie Sanders and MIL Paul Molitor both had 5 hit, 6 RBI games. Impressively, Reggie Sanders obtained those 6 RBI without a HR in said game (Molitor had 2 HR).

• ATL Kenny Lofton had a 5-5 game with no RBI, but scored thrice in that effort

• OAK Mark McGwire, continuing an MVP tear, had a 4-5 game with 3 HR and 7 RBI
• Big Mac added another 3 HR game in Part III, giving him the only 3+HR games in Part III

• Pedro makes this section again for most strike-outs, as Pedro, Zack Grienke and Eric Bedard all had a 15 K game

Paul has been a clutch contributor for Milwaukee, helping them to their MLB best 62-30 mark

And that leads us to player stats.... the NEW STATS ARE HERE

Again, click the link above for the new stats, including leaderboards and team stats, through 90 games!!!

Ok, now it's time for the MLB Leaders through 92 games to assist with your All Star voting:

BIG MAC is 8 RBI back from the triple crown

Baltimore may be dreadful, but Bobby Bonilla day came early with Bobby B spraying hits all over the place, putting him second in batting average through 92 games

Get this man in the MVP discussion pronto, as he's carrying the Phillies lineup into supporting their elite pitching staff right now

The Guardians' first-round selection is putting up ordinarily MVP numbers, which should land him an All Star game berth... now can he help Cleveland land a division title?

While neither is on pace for 60+ homers at this point, Sosa's powerful Part III has closed the gap to a 3 HR lead.... looks like another home run chase between these two titans has begun!

Version 1 of 2000 Troy Glaus is leading the MLB in RBIs, his team leads the MLB in run differential, and I'm sitting here stunned how dirty the original game did his foil in the '01 set!

Not a lot of positives to say about SF's 8-22 Part III, but Melky Cabrera is near the top of the leaderboard in Runs, and that's worth applauding for them

An absolute doubles machine, will Hanley Ramirez and his .333/.401/.539 slashline 

start at SS for the NL in the All Star Game?

Bobby Abreu -- Hall of Famer or not, dude is doing great things in the 30 for 30 league with 8 triples! 

His overall slashline is less impressive, .258/.349/.415, but he's got 13 SB too.

Leading the league in steals is just what the Marlins needed from Castillo to help their small-ball strategy wrack up the runs!

Bieber continues to lead in wins, so let's give some love to Chris Sale -- still top 3 in wins despite playing for a struggling White Sox team

"No way, Jose" has to be common refrain from Miami's broadcast team during Jose's games, as he just keeps blowing away these unbelievable lineups night in and night out -- definitely the favorite for NL Cy Young, as he's the only starter in MLB with a sub 1.00 WHIP and has nearly a 0.50 lead for the ERA crown. Certainly the NL's All Star Game starter.

Second in ERA and WHIP in the majors, Aaron Nola is a lock to make the NL All Star game too. The real question is how many of his rotation mates join him on the team?

The Blue Jays' struggles cannot be attributed to their ace, as Clemens has dialed up a ton of K across a plethora of innings!

Wanted to give some love to Houston's ace, who is hoping to help the Astros come roaring back in the AL West before it's all said and done!

The 62-30 Brewers can thank Josh for saving half of their wins with his MLB-leading 31 saves.... 

like Bruno, we don't talk about his 7 blown saves

ALL STAR VOTING

Now that you've seen the leaders, it's time to vote for the ALL STAR STARTERS: do so by CLICKING THIS LINK HERE TO A SURVEY I MADE 

I spent a lot, a lot of time going through and getting at least four guys at each position with stats deserving of starting! We're going to work with a bunch of managers to select the other members of the All Star team, but please vote to help get the starters! If there's someone you think is deserving of the team not on the poll, let me know -- not being in the vote =/= not being likely to make the team :) 

OK that does it for Part III!!! I hope you voted and are as excited as I am for the All Star teams to be announced next weekend!