MLB season hits halfway mark What we lea

With all due respect to the All-Star break, which traditionally separates the first and second halves of the MLB season, Friday is the official halfway point of the 2021 regular season. It is the 93rd day in the 186-day schedule, and to date 1,197 of 2,430 games have been played, or 49.3 percent. 18 of the 30 teams are in the 80-82 games played range. If you could transport a baseball fan from, say, September 2019 to July 2021, they wouldn't notice too much of a difference in the game. We still have a few wonky rules (seven-inning doubleheader games, extra innings runners, foreign-substance checks, etc.) and some folks are still required to wear masks in the dugout, but by and large baseball is back to normal. The stands are packed and talent is shining. Now that we're at the halfway point of the season, let's take a moment to recap what we've seen to Isaiah Coulter Jersey date, and break down what we have to look forward to these next few months. Come with me, won't you? During the 60-game season a year ago and the MLBPA agreed to a 16-team postseason field that let more than half the league into October. The two sides were unable to agree to an expanded postseason format for this season, so we're back to the usual 10-team format that has been in place since 2012. Here's the current postseason bracket: AMERICAN LEAGUE Wild Card Game: at ALDS1: Wild Card Game winner at ALDS2: at NATIONAL LEAGUE Wild Card Game: at NLDS1: Wild Card Game winner at NLDS2: at There's a chance, maybe even a very good one, the postseason will be expanded permanently with the new collective bargaining agreement next year. This may be the Wild Card Game's swan song. I'll mi s it. I wouldn't say it's fair to thrust a team right into a winner-take-all situation after a 162-game regular season, but the Wild Card Game is tremendous baseball theatre. I don't Bilal Nichols Jersey think this category is even up for debate. , and the projection systems at and both pegged San Francisco to win 75 or so games. Yet here they are, with baseball's best record (50-29) and third best run differential (plus-97) on July 1. They have a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL West. Check out their postseason odds: PreseasonJuly 1Change 8.7% 97.4%+88.7%FanGraphs 5.7% 79.7%+74.0%Baseball Prospectus 3.3% 64.2%+60.9%The Giants are surprising on both sides of the ball. They've become a haven for veteran pitchers looking to resurrect their careers, with and (and briefly ) becoming rock solid starters. has been an ace since joining the club last year, and while the bullpen can be leaky at times, it's been good enough so far. San Francisco is also one of the highest scoring teams in baseball and, weirdly, they lean on the home run. Even during their mini-dynasty in the early 2010s, they ranked near the bottom of the league in homers. This year they're second in the league in dingers and getting resurgent seasons from and (and and before their injuries). The Giants have one Nick Foles Jersey of the oldest rosters in baseball (they have oldest group of position players) and it's fair to wonder whether they can keep this up all year, or whether fatigue and wear and tear will become an i sue later in the season. For now, the Giants have banked a ton of wins in the first half, and they're the third team crashing what was expected to be a two-team NL West. Coming into the season, the Yankees were on the short list of po sible World Series contenders. At the halfway mark, they're only two games over .500 with a commensurate run differential (minus-3), and if the postseason started today, they'd be watching from home. Dating back to Opening Day 2020, the Yankees have played at an 86-win pace. The pitching has been surprisingly solid. There were concerns behind ace and understandably so, but the Yankees are near the top of the league in runs allowed per game. The pitching generally keeps them in games. The offense though? Woof. The Yankees are one of the lowest scoring teams in baseball. The bottom of the AL runs per game leaderboard: : 4.00 : 4.06 : 4.11 : 4.11Yankees: 4.11New York's lineup is largely the same as last season, which is part of the problem. Everyone is year older and they remain overly right-handed. They're susceptible to hard-throwing righties and prone to hitting into double plays, and they're not hitting enough home runs to compensate. The Yankees are designed to do one thing and they're Chicago Bears Golf Sporting Goods not doing that one thing. Based on current records, it's going to take 95 wins to reach the postseason in the American League. The Yankees need to go 54-28 the rest of the way to get to 95 wins, or a 107-win pace acro s a 162-game season. Can this team do that? Sure, it wouldn't be the most surprising thing in the world to see them go on a three-month tear, but it would need to happen quick. Honorable mention goes to the and especially the . At one point St. Louis was 25-18 with a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL Central. Since then, they've lost 23 times in 38 games, and fallen to eight games back in the division. Yikes. At 41-37, the Blue Jays are 7 1/2 games back in the AL East and 4 1/2 games back of the second wild card spot. The bullpen has given manager Charlie Montoyo plenty of headaches, especially lately, and the back of the rotation could be better as well. There are cracks in the dam, no doubt about it. That said, Toronto has a fierce offense and one of the highest scoring lineups in baseball. Jr. is having a monster MVP-caliber season, and his supporting cast ( , , , and the newly healthy ) is excellent as well. This offense will ruin a pitcher's day real quick. A weak bullpen and an unfortunate 6-10 record in one-run games has Chicago Bears Pet Gear held back a team with a dynamite offense, a bona fide ace ( ), solid enough No. 2 and 3 starters ( and ), and the seventh-best run differential in baseball (a nice plus-69). They're also sneaky good defensively, particularly on the infield. Toronto does a lot of things well. It might be too late to get back into the AL East race, but the Blue Jays are going to be handful down the stretch. Both down the stretch this year and in future years. The young position player core is excellent and improving, and they have the resources to improve their pitching. This is not a team is ignore despite their current spot in the standings. The honorable mention here is, of course, the Dodgers. The defending World Series have kinda sorta stumbled through the first half, but they're as deep and as talented as any team in the sport. The fact Los Angeles is only 1 1/2 games back while giving off this underwhelming vibe and the Giants being so great has to leave San Francisco feeling uneasy. It is sort of amazing Cleveland is seven games over .500 and only four games back in the AL Central. The lineup