Series of the Week – Early Edition
Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers – Monday through Thursday
Two of the best young teams in the game face off in a four game series that could go a long ways towards determining the winners of two divisions and the Wild Card. As of this writing, the Brewers are 50-40, just 3.5 games up on the revitalized Cubs. While the Brewers have been losing seven of their last ten, the Cubs have been winning seven of their last ten. While the Brewers might have the second-best record in the National League, their lead in the division is nowhere near as strong as it once was. Meanwhile, in the West, the Diamondbacks are 49-43, just 2.5 games back of the first-place Dodgers and 1.5 games back of the second-place Padres. In the Wild Card race, the Padres trail both the Padres and the Atlanta Braves. If the Brewers continue to falter, they could find themselves also looking at the Wild Card standings.
While the series kicks off on Monday, the most interesting pitching matchup comes on Tuesday, when Yusmeiro Petit takes the mound for the Diamondbacks and Claudio Vargas for the Brewers. Petit was one of the top prospects in the Mets system before heading to the Marlins, and he came to the Diamondbacks in the Jorge Julio trade. Petit struggled upon entering the Marlins’ system, but he looks to have straightened things out with the D-Backs. His first start back in the majors was his best, holding the Giants to four hits and two earned runs in seven innings, and he struck out five while walking none. He has failed to complete six innings in the two starts since, although he is 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA in them. Vargas came over along with Johnny Estrada in the Doug Davis deal. Vargas had started off strong, but he has fallen of late, finishing June with a 5.24 ERA and an 18:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He did have a record of 3-0, however, so maybe being lucky is better than being good sometimes.
The hitter to watch for the Brewers is J.J. Hardy. Hardy had a monster start to the season, and overall still has quite solid numbers, but he ended June poorly, finishing the month with a .220 batting average, and he is hitting just .206 so far in July. His last home run came back in June 25. Still, he has shown that he can go dry for a little bit before heating back up, so writing Hardy off is likely a mistake. There is a reason he was an elite prospect before he made the bigs.
The hitter to watch for the Diamondbacks is Conor Jackson. With a .267 batting average and just five home runs, Jackson is not putting up anywhere near the numbers one would hope for out of a first baseman, especially in the power department. Jackson finished June with just two home runs, and he has not hit one out of the park since June 13. If he was hitting for average at least, in the mold of a Sean Casey, that would be one thing, but he is not, and his average is only getting worse, not better, as he is hitting just .235 this month. Jackson is regressing, not improving, as a fulltime player, and the Diamondbacks are going to need to look at other options there soon.
Series of the Week – Weekend Edition
Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota Twins
The race in the American League West was not supposed to be close, but, somehow, the Mariners have climbed back into the race, now trailing the Angels by just three games. Therefore, the Angels cannot simply coast to the division title, despite sharing the best record in the game with the Red Sox at 55-35 as of this writing. The race in the Twins’ division is even closer, with first place and second place separated by just a half game. Unfortunately for the Twins, they are in third, trailing by six games. They were even further back last year though, coming all the way back to win the division, so writing them off is a serious mistake. The situation is not much better for the Twins in the Wild Card race, as they trail the Indians by 5.5 games and the Mariners by 4.5. One could say there is plenty of time, but every series counts, especially ones with teams ahead of you in the standings, so the Twins need to win this series, even if they are not in the same division as the Angels – the Wild Card is looking like a more likely scenario for the Twins, and the Angels could easily find themselves in that race, rather than the division, if they cannot cool off the team from the Pacific Northwest.
The hitter to watch in this series for the Angels is Reggie Willits. Willits’ performance last month made him an everyday player, but July has not been as kind to Willits. Through 29 at-bats this month, Willits has just five hits, giving him a July batting average of just .172. When getting on base, Willits has been more of a liability than an asset, scoring just one run but creating two outs by getting caught stealing twice, and he has yet to successfully swipe a base this month. Considering that Willits has next to no power. Willits’ only value comes from his high batting average and stolen bases, and he is doing neither right now.
Luis Castillo is red hot right now for the Twins. This month, Castillo is hitting .368 with four RBI, six runs scored, and a stolen base. Castillo has also walked four times this month, bumping his on base percentage for the month over .400 all the way to .429. At this stage of his career, all you can really ask for out of Castillo is for him to get on base, score some runs, and occasionally steal a bag, and he is living up to his end of the bargain right now.
