Fantasy Baseball 1st Half Reactions: AL East

Jun 19, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter

(13) reacts after New York Yankees left fielder

(not pictured) scores from third on a wild pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

With regular season games taking a backseat to All-Star festivities until Friday, I think it is an interesting exercise to identify certain events or players that have caught your attention so far this season. Some guys may have disappointed or surprised you, but taking note of your reactions can be a benefit as the season progresses or for future seasons to come.

We will go division by division throughout the week, up until we get back to regular season action, and back to the grind of the regular season.

AL East

New York Yankees- The Yankees sit atop of the division as they have combined some key offensive bounce back seasons and a dominant back-end of the bullpen to garner success. There are a couple of guys that you could point too as surprises or disappointments, but fantasy owners biggest reactions have had to be sparked by the resurgence of Alex Rodriguez.

We clearly are aware of the drama behind Alex, so going into 2015 it was a truly a mystery of what he was going to do. Hip surgeries and a suspension later, here we are talking about A-Rod as one of the best offensive threats in baseball at the break.

A-Rod’s success has been remarkable, as he has sustained his health and production to post a .279/18 HR/50 RBI/.899 OPS line which puts him in the thick of the top performers so far this season. A-Rod went largely undrafted, so fantasy owners that took that leap of faith early on in the season, have certainly reaped the rewards so far.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Teixeira‘s resurgence and Brett Gardner’s All-Star season

Tampa Bay Rays-  For fantasy owners and baseball fans, I think the biggest reaction to Tampa’s 1^st half has been their ability to stay afloat in the East after an offseason that looked pretty bleak. But, they have had some guys that have really broke out and caused fantasy owners to take notice.

We all know that the Rays are predicated on good defense and great defense and that recipe has not really changed this year. But Chris Archer’s sheer dominance has to be the most notable 1^st half fantasy headline. Archer clearly had the potential to become one of the best SP in baseball, and many owners looked at 2015 as just another year where Archer could take another step forward in his career.

Well in 2015, he has not taken a step, but an absolute leap in his progression as he has shown at times that he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Archer has 9 Wins, a dazzling 2.74 ERA and a crazy 147 K’s so far. He has become of the ace of most fantasy staffs and owners should take notice as Archer will challenge for the AL CY Young award.

Honorable Mentions: Brad Boxberger’s success and Steven Souza’s potential 20HR/15SB

Baltimore Orioles- It has been a wildly inconsistent first half of the season for the Orioles as they see themselves sitting with a .500 record at the break. I will concede that they have more talent than their record shows, but I was not surprised that the same problems were going to plague them as they have in the past.

The Orioles have a quality lineup, even if they cannot get a hit with runners in scoring position to save their lives, so as usual it was all about their pitching. My first half surprise had to be the success that Ubaldo Jimenez has had this season. I think if you told O’s fans before the season that Ubaldo Jimenez would basically be their ace, they would have probably laughed you out of the room.

The Orioles have been saved this season by Jimenez’s somewhat return to ace status. They still have the solid Wei-Yin Chen, but fantasy owners have seen that he has been consistent for the last few seasons. So when Ubaldo rebounds from a 4.81 ERA in 2014, to the sparkling 2.81 ERA this season, it makes you take notice. It will be interesting to see if Ubaldo can maintain this success as the Orioles and fantasy owners will rely on his arm to stay solid.

Honorable Mentions: Manny Machado’s power surge and Zach Britton’s dominance

Toronto Blue Jays- For what undoubtedly is the best lineup in the MLB, Blue Jays fans must get frustrated at watching their team. They are easily in the lead for runs scored per game, but they just cannot get the pitching they need to maintain success. I think they will make a move at the trade deadline to sure up the pitching, but as we sit right now they are 4.5 games back in the division, even though they probably have the division’s scariest team.

The biggest fantasy headline to take away from the Jays for the first half, has to be the MVP caliber season Josh Donaldson has posted so far. I know for me, he is just reminding everyone why he was well worth the first of second round price tag he warranted. With a statline that is borderline obscene, .293/21HR/60RBI, he will definitely be battling it out with Mike Trout for MVP honors.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Buehrle’s immortality and Edwin Encarnacion’s inconsistency    

Boston Red Sox- My oh my, where to begin? I do not think anyone, even the Red Sox detractors, would have guessed they would be in the division’s basement at the All-Star break. With the offensive additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, it was clear that the Red Sox were going to score easily. But that has not been the case for most of the first half as injuries and under performances have slowed the offense down mightily.

The easiest road in terms of a reaction would be the terrible SP that the Red Sox have gotten this year. But to be honest, that should not have come as much of a surprise because their rotation going into the season was shaky to begin with. I will divert my reaction to the disappearance of David Ortiz. Ortiz has haunted my baseball dreams many of nights, so to see him basically fall off a cliff production wise is surprising.

It seemed as though a few years back people were writing Ortiz off after early season struggles and that proved to be a fallacy as he went on and posted his normal solid offensive seasons. But 2015 seems different, Ortiz just does not resemble the threat he once did at the plate when the Red Sox desperately need him to anchor the middle of their lineup.

He has not hit less than 23 HR’s since 2002, and I find it hard to believe that he can reach that point this year, unless something drastically changes at the plate.

Honorable Mentions: Xander Bogaertes bounce back and Hanley Ramirez’s power rebound