NL North: Toledo has jumped to the top of the NL with an offensively display that was not expected when the season started. Rico Flores has been amazing with a .356/.436/.644 to compliment his 7 homeruns. Not to be outdone is Yuniesky Encarnacion who is playing out of his mind with 14 homeruns (he hit 56 last year) but he has upped his OBP by quite a bit going from .265/.309/.573 last year to .321/.367/.664. The pitching has performed to expectatations allowing only 3.29 runs per game.
Burlington is playing solid baseball, but finds themselves five games behind the Mud Hens. With the third best offense averaging 5.57 runs per game, the Monsters are still one of the most feared teams in the league. They did take two of three from Toledo, but only outscored them 4-3 and 7-5, while dropping the third game 7-8.
As predicted, Buffalo has been better (17-20), while Syracuse has played much better than their 16-21 record shows.
NL East
The Durham Bulls were picked to finish second to Indianapolis, but right now lead the division by 3 games. Their ability to win close games (6-2 in one run games) and to take games in extra innings (2-0) has really led them to the third best record in the game. Eli Coronado (.367/.463/767) and Davey Conseco (.367/.409/.648) are having career years in their early thirties. Wally Holt has been fantastic with his 1.05 WHIP and winning 5 games (he won 10 all last year).
Indy's pitching was expected to be better, but they still allowing 4.5 per game vs 4.6 last year.
Norfolk has not lived up to expectations with one of the worst pitching staffs in the NL, while not scoring near enough runs. And Louisville is performing as expected.
NL South
Memphis changed the dynamic of their team and it has paid off big time. A team known for it's slow start shot out of the gate and maintained a 9-1 division record while racking up 209 runs and only allowing 126.
Little Rock has been solid, despite their 20-17 record. Expect them to hit a run of good luck soon.
San Antonio got wiped off the map and has fallen so far short of expectations it's not even funny (especially to the owner...myself). How a team could be SO miscalculated is beyond understanding. The tools are their to be a top performing offense, yet they have scored the second least amount of runs (132). The pitching was expected to be the concern, but the offense is still horrible.
New Orleans, is slightly better than expected, but still a win for the franchise if they can get to .400.
NL West
Colorado Springs is leading the west as expected. The surprise teams have been Vancouver and Salt Lake City. SLC was abandoned early and the pitching staff has been about as effective as an old lady throwing BP (mostly because their arms are about to fall off). Giving up 294 runs in 37 games (7.95 runs allowed per game!!!), is inexcusable and frankly embarrassing for such a quality world. Vancouver has been the anit- SLC. They have put together a better team that plays well. They won't win a lot this year, but 16-21 at this point is something to be proud of. (nice job vandydave!)
AL North
Sioux Falls, KC, and Fargo were expected to duke it out. Fargo has yet to show up. The Fighting Pheasants haven't scored as many runs as originally thought, but they make up for it with the best pitching the North. They are also an amazing 8-2 in 1 run games, and 4-0 in extra innings. That's the difference holding at this point.
Kansas City is better than their 3rd place prediction, and are currently scoring the most runs in the league with 210 (5.7 runs per game). The defense and pitching have been stellar and much improved compared to last year. Super prospect Lucas Rodgers has 17 games under his 21 year old belt. He is coming along as expected with .254/.354/.448). He will get much better. Marcus Walker is putting up an MVP type season with a .345/.468/.683 w/ 11 homeruns and 41 RBI.
Portland...better luck next year. At least they are better than San Antonio.
AL East
Charleston was the favored team and they have produced. Their pitching has been great, they are scoring runs, and leading a tight division. New Britain has fallen off (3rd place 19-18) but don't expect them to stay down long once they figure out their pitching. Trenton is another surprise team with a 20-17 record (when they were predicted to lose 90+). They look to be a team that can compete with a good mix of vets leading a resurgent offense (4.3 rpg last year vs 4.7 this year). The pitching staff has been simply amazing only allowing 155 runs (4.18 vs last year 4.70).
AL South
Charlotte is still the class of the AL and is still the favorite to win it all. Offensively and defensively they are +60 runs only 37 games into the season. The other teams in this division are performing as expected.
AL West
There is some good baseball being played out West in the AL. Fresno is still the class of the league and is FAR AND AWAY the most dominant team to this point despite their 26-11 record. They have scored 175 runs versus only 96 given up. That could be attributed to their weak division (Boise hasn't played anywhere near where they were expected to play, and all teams sit 10 or more games out of first place already).
Now, the moment you have all been waiting for....the first official power rankings!
1.
Toledo Mud Hens
2.
Charlotte Knights
3.
Fresno Grizzlies
4.
Burlington Lake Monsters
5.
Charleston RiverDogs
6.
Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants
7.
Colorado Springs SkySox
8.
Kansas City T-Bones
9.
Memphis RedBirds
10.
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