Key Players that Need a Better Second Half of the Season
There is a well balanced amount of parity around baseball this year, with four divisional races that will be a close race. The wild card slots are wide open on both sides of the league. A much different tune than the NBA super team monopoly that is becoming more prevalent with free agents and the draft. The baseball season has more competition with better results and a handful of teams that can win it all. To that extent, there are some key contributors mixed into this wide-spanning pennant race in the making who need a better second half performance. Which players can extend their level of play with better results over the course of the second
Let’s have a look at a few big names whose clubs desperately need them to have a stronger presence on the field of play.
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
With the Rays finding themselves somewhat surprisingly close in both the AL East and Wild Card race, they need Longoria to be a difference-making bat at the core of their lineup, providing the final push that can make all the difference in the wide open AL East.
However, he has not been able to find the form he played just a year ago with any consistency. With the Rays just 2.5 games out of the wild card hunt, Longoria is carrying three-year lows in OPS (.734), home runs (on pace for a six-year low of 21) and batting average, which is his lowest since 2011. With the Tampa lineup clicking around him, a second-half surge from Longoria could be the final surge into the postseason for the Rays.
Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
Machado is one of the best third baseman in the American League and on many nights this season he has produced many great plays that have become the norm for him. However, his play in between has been far too inconsistent. Machado is on pace for 35 home runs and over 80 RBI, which would be his third straight season reaching those levels. He is having the type of year that looks more sluggish than his overall talents in the game. He carries a .228 average along with a .300 on-base percentage. Both numbers are 50 and 30 points lower than his career averages, respectively.
The Orioles have slid down the standings over the last month and have done so while battling a rash of unfortunate injuries to key players. The O’s need their franchise player to tap in to that top form immediately before gaining ground in the AL East slips from their reach.
David Price and Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox
Entering the year, the Boston rotation could claim two Cy Young Award winners, as well as a third front-line starter in Chris Sale, who could be destined for the honor himself. Three months later, only Sale has done his best pitching, as Porcello and Price have been disastrous thus far in the year. Over 20 combined starts, the top-billed duo has underachieved to the tone of a 5.09 ERA, while picking up the tab for only five wins against 10 losses.
For Porcello, it has been one of the most horrendous follow-ups to a Cy Young season in history. As for Price, it has continued the average start to his rocky tenure as a member of the Red Sox. The pre-season pitching prop bet on David Price was listed at 15.5 wins — the under looks like a solid bet. Their lack of impact has been marginalized by the fact that the Red Sox are still competing atop AL east. This is the very definition of playing with house money for the time being, but the fate of the Red Sox falls in the hands of Price and Porcello, who need a much stronger second half for the Sox to control their destiny.
