MLB weekend preview: Mims looks at who's hot and not
I decided to look at who is playing winning baseball since the all-star break. The Yankees, Phillies and Astros have won at least 7 of their last 10. The Indians and the Cardinals are leading the pack at 8-2 of the previous ten. The hottest division is the AL West where the Astros, Athletics and Angels have won at least 75% of their games since the break, The closest division race is the NL Central where the Cubs lead the Cardinals by 1/2 game and the AL Central where the Twins lead Cleveland by 2 games. Twins are slumping right now losing 7 of their last 10.
The Royals are playing very well but too far out of contention I don’t expect their hot streak to continue. I will give some props to the Giants who have also played well enough to be in the Wild Card race.
Teams that make the who is not hot list are the Rangers, White Sox, Mariners and Tigers. Texas tops the list because they have lost 9 of their last 10. Detroit and the Mariners are 2-8 and 3-7 over the same period.
The Phillies are trending up right now because they beat up the Pirates and the Tigers. If Jean Segura is out for a period, this will weaken the top of the batting order. They could conceivably fall out of Wild Card contention if they have a sustain losing streak. They are currently a ½ game back. They face the Braves this weekend.
If you are looking for a hot versus not match up, the Angels against the Orioles and the Rangers versus Oakland are the two series that stand out. Angels and Oakland are the home teams in both series. One series that is worth watching base on rivalry alone is the Yankees and Red Sox.
The Dodgers and Nationals should be competitive. Dodgers are 37-29 against teams that are above 500. They have lost 2 straight. Good teams don’t have long losing skids. The rotation against Washington has Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw starting the 1st two games. They are a combined 19-4 for the season. Nationals will not have Stephen Strasburg or Max Scherzer for this series because they started earlier this week. Lean to LA taking 2 of 3. Follow me on Twitter.