Finally someone with some sense around here

Machado >

Manny Machado is a special player. I hope Carlos Correa can turn into that type of talent.
He hasn't put together a great second season, so far, but he's only 21 years old.

Correa is only hitting .269 with 11 home runs on the year but he's starting to heat up a little bit.
In the past few games he's been working the counts (better approach), multi-hit games. That's a good sign.

I think the game-winning hit he had last night may spark him. I've been waiting for him to hit a lot better.



Anyways, it feels good to be back at .500 this year. Not since the second day of the season have they been there.
They are trying to finish off the sweep today. I know the Angels have a bad record but Mike Trout is still dominating.

A lot of tough games are coming up. The Astros play at Kansas City this weekend.
If they can keep winning games they'll pass the Mariners for second place in the AL West.

And then looking at the wild-card standings, they could be right there when it matters at the end of the year.

Jose Altuve, is only the second player in MLB history (Shoeless Joe Jacskson the other) to have back-to-back seasons of 200+ hits, 40+ doubles and 35+ stolen bases. And he's well on pace to do it for a third straight season this year. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up. Hitting over .340 and having a career year in home runs as well. He's slugging .968 which is impressive for a second baseman.

I saw some crazy stats showing that if Altuve can play at a high level until his late 30s, early 40s... He could one day surpass both Pete Rose and Ichiro Suzuki (Japanese league stats included) for the all-time hits leader. But that's kind silly talk right now. Health plays a big role and he's really small of a man. Can his body hold up? I know he just turned 26 years old.

Teams like the Rangers. Orioles, even Red Sox (from what I've seen this year)...
I don't think the Astros are on that level right now. But can they be in September and October?

A lot of baseball is still left to be played and our starting rotation, besides Doug Fister, can pitch a lot better than they have been.

I forgot to mention the Blue Jays as well. That's the other team in the AL that really scares me.
If they make the playoffs all bets are off. They took down the Rangers in the ALDS last year.

As much as people want to pencil in the Texas Rangers versus Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series, which I admit it seems like they are both on a collision course to meet in the fall classic this year, it's just not that easy. And isn't this an odd year for the San Francisco Giants? If history repeats itself (2010, 2012, 2014....) they will win the 2016 World Series. I hope not. LOL

A wild-card team can come out of nowhere and make a World Series run. That's the fun part of it all.
In fact, I may be mistaken, but the Giants and Royals were both wild-card teams a couple years back.

For all we know the Kansas City Royals will repeat as World Series champions (third straight appearance). But I'd like to see some new blood take over the American League this year. It's boring when the same team wins, unless you're a fan of those teams.

When the MLB added a second wild-card spot to each league that was the greatest thing that happened.
It now allows a lot more cities and more fan bases to still believe they have a chance to make the playoffs.

You no longer have to win 100+ games anymore. Just make the playoffs, get hot, and that's all you need.