AL East Round Up: Report Card Edition: Offense and Defense

Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees:

The Yankee are stuck in first place 4 weeks in. They’ve been able to attain a good grip as the best of a mediocre group. While everyone else is playing .500 ball (or so) the Yankees are doing just a bit better. And, at the end of the day, teams need only finish first in their division to make the playoffs. It doesn’t need to be pretty. It can be as ugly as pine tar all over your bat, helmet, gloves, hand, neck…

Grades:

Offense–  B+
Collectively, the Yankees are hitting well. As of Saturday night, they’re 5th in the AL with a .269 batting average, 6th in runs scored with 100 and 1st in double with 51! 51 doubles in 24 games is pretty nice. They sit in the middle of the pack in HR with 19. They are also 2nd in the AL with 19 stolen bases. Overall, this is a well balanced offense that has a good combination of speed and extra base hits. They sit 2nd in the AL with 216 hits (averaging 9 hits per game) and 4th with 332 total bases. All of this comes as no surprise to anyone, really. What is a surprise is that they continue with aging veterans like Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter. What is perhaps even more surprising (at least to me) is the contribution they are getting from Yangervis Solarte. The 26 year old from Venezuela is hitting .301 with 13 RBI. The fact that the Yankees are producing with an aging lineup is a surprise to me. If Jeter and Teixeira can stay healthy and productive, look out!

Defense– C-
The Yankees have committed 15 errors and sit 9th in the AL with a .982 fielding percentage. The defense hasn’t been the calling card of this team thus far. I’m not so sure it was expected to be. Jacoby Ellsbury is a good defender in CF and when he’s healthy, Teixeira is a Gold Glove caliber firstbaseman. Other than that, I just don’t see any improvements to the Yankees D. Jeter is not a spring chicken anymore and has lost some pep. But, when the rest of the game is clicking, you can learn to live with a few errors, etc. The only thing saving the grade for this Yankees defense is the fact that they turned the year’s first triple play against the Rays. That’s about it.

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles

For me, the Orioles are the biggest surprise in the AL East. There is no way I expected them to be in 2nd place. I’ll be even more surprised if they continue to be within striking distance in August and September. They’ve ridden a solid offense that is only going to get better once they all click together. Their defense has been great. If (that’s a big “if”) their pitching can turn around and keep them in games, they’ll have no trouble challenging for the title.

Grades:

Offense- B+
The Orioles are supposed to have a high octane offense. They certainly showed it against the Blue Jays this week. They may actually be waking up the machine to begin their climb up the AL East ladder. They are hitting .269, which puts them 3rd in the AL. They have scored 105 runs (6th) on  218 hits (4th) that’s almost 9.5 hits per game! What is interesting is they’ve only hit 16 HR (12th). They have the most triples in the AL with 6. They also have hit 44 2B (7th). They’ve done all of this while we were wondering when the offense was going to click. Maybe we just weren’t paying attention. Thanks to his recent games against the Jays, Nelson Cruz is providing a lot of bang for the Orioles discounted buck. He leads the team with 23 RBI. Matt Wieters is also hitting .338. Once the O’s start being more patient (they sit in 13th spot with just 59 walks), the rest of the AL East better look out.

Defense  A-
The defense has been quite good. They have only committed 9 errors (3rd) while turning 69 double plays (3rd). And, they’ve done all of this without the phenom- Manny Machado. Did I mention he’s on his way back. It’ll only serve to help an already steady (.989% -good for 3rd) defense. When he comes back, he’ll probably shift the rookie Jonathan Schoop back to 2B where he may be more comfortable. Schoop has committed 4 of the 9 errors this season. Remove his numbers and they’ve only had 5 miscues this month.

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Red Sox

I have taken great pleasure watching John Ferrell’s squad hanging out in the basement for so long. Although, now I’m not laughing so loudly. Especially since these Red Sox have come in to Toronto and put the Jays in their place. Literally. The Red Sox are starting to come around and we’re seeing them climb the standings. Their offense will eventually live up to its potential. The defense needs to pick up the slack.

Grades:

Offense- B-
So far, 2014 has not been kind to the Red Sox. Considering their lineup and what is expected of them, they’ve flat out struggled. They are sitting on a .243 average which is good for 12th in the AL. They are 7th in hits (207), 6th in HR (22), 2nd in doubles (49) and 8th in runs scored (104). The Red Sox are striking out with an average of  9/game. But they continue to be patient working teams for 102 walks (3rd in AL). Mike Napoli seems to be the pillar of consistency for this team. He’s hitting .307 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. Good thing the Jays let him go for Frank Francisco…where is he now? David Ortiz may not have the average we’re used to seeing, but he is making the most out of the hits he does get. He’s got 5HR and 13 RBI to go with 3 2B. Like every other team, if the bats start working at the same time, this team will be dangerous. It seems like a 3 game set against the Blue Jays will be just what the doctor ordered.

Defense-  C
The Red Sox defense has been…meh. They haven’t exactly been solid. They have committed 19 errors. In 25 games. Their fielding percentage is at .980 (10th) and they’ve turned 57 double plays (9th). They likely miss the presence of a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury. Chris Toman of MLB.com expresses the Red Sox’ concern over defense in this piece.

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are starting to climb the standings slowly after a rough start to the year. It seems everyone expects them to be fighting for the division title. Early on, it didn’t look like that was going to happen. In fairness, the Rays are no different than any other team in the East in that regard. However, now that the season is a month old, this is where teams will separate themselves. Somehow, the Rays will be on the good end of this separation. They may sit in 4th now, but that won’t last. Their defense is solid and their offense finds ways to compete.

Grades:

Offense B
Considering how little I expected from the offense of this team, the Rays have surprised. They haven’t been as bad as I thought they would. Whether they can keep up in the East over a full season remains to be seen, but this report card is not based on the future. It is based on what they’ve done over the first month of the season. Here it is: .252 average (9th in AL), 206 hits (8th), 103 runs (10th), 48 double (3rd). At first, I thought that these average numbers must be enhanced by speed. The stolen bases must be high. I was wrong. They’ve only stolen 8 bases, which puts them 13th in the AL. So, what is it? How about they are 4th in walks (99) and 5th in K’s (166). They are using the strike zone to their advantage. Seems pretty smart, If you don’t have the power, you find other ways to win. That Joe Maddon is smart.

Defense A
The Rays sit tied for first in the AL with just 7 errors committed and a .991 fielding percentage so far. Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar have each committed 2 errors. That points to a fairly solid team defense. They’ve only turned 50 double plays (12th) though. If we consider the only guy in the AL East who will challenge Brett Lawrie for a Gold Glove at 3rd, Evan Longoria, and James Loney at first, the Rays should be leading the division (at least) in defense. Anything less would be failure.

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have started their descent into last place. They are only 3 games out of first, but this may be the point of the season where things start to resemble what the season will look like. Teams will start falling into their places. Hopefully, this is not the case for the Blue Jays, but there just doesn’t seem to be improvement in sight. The pitching has not been effective. The offense has yet to click together. The only saving grace is the defense, but that is not enough.

Grades:

Offense- D+
Save for a couple games, the Jays offense has been miserable. As of Saturday night, they sit 12th in the AL in batting average (.245), 10th in OPS (.719), 10th in hits (192) and 14th in 2B (34). Yet, they’re 3rd in HR with 27. They’ve scored 100 runs (6th in AL). So, once again, 2014 looks like a season where the Blue Jays rely on the long ball.  To top it all off, they’ve struck out 172 times, which puts them in the middle of the pack. They’re averaging almost 7.5 K’s per game! Colby Rasmus himself contributes 1.3 K’s per game. I was surprised to see that Edwin Encarnacion has 25 K’s (just over one per game). Simply put, this offense is failing. I’d put a giant red F on them if it weren’t for a few bright spots. Brett Lawrie leads the team with 18 RBI. This would be good news, if it weren’t so easy to lead the team in anything. Jose Bautista is walking more than those old people at the mall. He leads the league with 27! He’s getting a walk almost every 4th at bat. his eye is locked in on the baseball right now. If he continues, he should put up a great season. To wit: Jays Journal writer Luca Silva explores Bautista’s plate discipline.

Defense-  A
The Jays sit in 2nd spot in the AL with only 2 errors committed all month. TWO! All month! They also  hold a fielding percentage of .991. Fans will know just how huge this is. Last year, defense was a revolving gong show. The defense this year has seemed to taken a giant leap forward. The defense seems to be anchored by the great play of guys like Jonathan Diaz. Colby Rasmus is the usual gazelle out in CF. Melky Cabrera is moving much better in LF. And, of course, we cannot forget my choice for 2014 Gold Glove at 3rd- Brett Lawrie. He’s taking his defense to a higher, more controlled level this season.