I feel like the world has slowed to a stop these last few days as sparse baseball action has graced the calendar. It got me thinking, though, about what to look for as the second half of the season begins..400 and 62: Joe Mauer is hitting .373, but only.325 in July, so the chances are pretty slim that Mauer hovers near the magical .400 mark as the season heads into September. My guess is that he finishes somewhere around .350, with an American League batting title. In the NL, Albert Pujols hit 32 home runs in the first half of the season. Could he approach Roger Maris' 61 home runs? He could, but I bet Pujols falls short with about 55 home runs.
Rookiemania: Super-prospect Matt Wieters has been quiet since being called up to the majors, but Atlanta's Tommy Hanson, Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen, and Tampa's David Price are three youngsters making an impact with their clubs and are the face of the next generation. As baseball moves away from the steroid era, youth and athleticism will be cornerstones in the next stage of the evolution of the game.
The AL Beast: The Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays are all within 7 games in arguably the toughest division in baseball. The Blue Jays have fallen out of contention after a strong first couple months of the season and this is heating up to be one of the best divisional races in recent memory. How will it turn out? Strong Pitching wins this one.
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Mauer will win a bunch of batting titles and is a legitimate threat to bat .400. But that's an awful big task for a catch batting in the middle of a lineup. If he played first or DH he would have a better chance.
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