Highlights, Surprises, Predictions...

The season is half over and the biggest surprise has to be Tampa Bay having the best record in baseball. Strange highlight: The Angels lose a game where the other team didn't get a hit, but it wasn't a no-hitter because it only went 8 innings.

we had a big discussion about the 8 innings no hitter by the angels on the dodgers board...i see both sides of the argument but imo it should count. forgotten in the shuffle was an outstanding pitched game by my favorite player chad billingsley!

*rays big surprise team in al...but when u draft #1 every year the team obv. has alot of talent.
*josh hamilton feel good story of the al
*nl biggest surprise is how bad the nl west is...for player it's edison volquez of the reds. the dude looks like pedro and he's pitching like one...what a beast!

Like Quan said, Hamilton and Volquez are the two big time breakouts this year. Both are going to have fabulous careers. But I predict a second half dropoff for both, especially Volquez. He's got an amazing arsenal of pitches (very pedro-esque) but his walk rate is just too high to sustain that low ERA. It's going to catch up with him soon, although he'll still finish with very strong numbers. Hamilton I think will be a perennial 35/100 guy if he can stay off the dope. Dude is totally jacked and hits in a great lineup/ballpark.

Honorable mention to Carlos Quentin for his breakout first half as well. He's for real.

Rays have a ton of young talent through years of picking high in the draft. Their lineup is going to be downright scary in a few years when guys like Upton and Crawford are in their primes. You have to give their management alot of credit considering what they've done to transform that pitching staff. They went from Kazmir and nothing else to one of the deeper staffs in the league. They are going to make alot of postseason noise in the coming years.

I've never understood the rationale of saying a no-hitter doesn't count if you don't win the game. You are basically punishing the pitcher for the misdeeds of the fielders. I can understand putting an asterisk after a rain shortened no-hitter, but not one in a loss.

If I remember correctly, every time this has happened, it has been the opposing team throwing the no-hitter against the home team, thus the the no-hit pitcher/s only throws 8 innings and the reason they say it doesn't count because they didn't pitch 9 innings. What happens when it happens the other way around the losing pitcher throwing the no-hitter pitches 9 innings?

Jay

yup jay, it's really lose/lose for the guy throwing the no-no unless he wins it...kinda like harvey haddix or whatever his name is. 12 inning perfect and then poof. i think i saw el presidente dennis martinez threw a 10-inning no hitter against the dodgers in the early 90's. ur basically screwed unless ur team scores some runs for you.

ben i agree about volquez...u'd think the walk rate would bite him but somehow his stuff his so good the league can't hit or haven't figured him out. another small fella that's doing great is tim lincecum...prolly the top young pitcher in the game right now. i can't believe how hard these small guys throw.

god josh hamilton is sick. he got started early on the demolition of yankees stadium in the home run derby. they should just end the competition right now!

28 HR's in one round is superhuman. Nobody will remember Morneau winning the derby, just that unbelievable power show by Hamilton in the first round. And this is a guy who's got 95 RBI's at the AS break!



Hate to bring it up, but......juiced?

ben i'm gonna give him the benefit and say he's probably had enough drugs in his body. i don't think peds can make you hit mlb pitching after a 3 year layoff.