Baseball at the Break

The older I get the more superstitious I become about baseball. No real good reason for it. Just the growing sense that my writing will somehow sway the entire sport and probably not in a way that I'll like. Which explains why I haven't written about baseball this spring. And why I'm a little bit afraid to even write this. I'll try to be cautious.

The season started with the Twins, Tigers and White Sox all about equal. Maybe a slight edge to the Twins but overall well within the margin of injuries and random effects. Then it started and it soon looked like the Twins were the class of the joint. Especially over the Sox who suffered from poor pitching and hitting. In late May I told the FP Gal that I'd lost hope that they'd turn it around.
Here are the standings as late as June 8:

Twins 34 - 24
Tigers 30 - 27 3.5 GB
White Sox 24-33 9.5 GB

A 3.5 game lead isn't overwhelming but if anything the numbers suggested that the Tigers had been lucky to stay that close. The White Sox were every bit as bad as their record. And then the script flipped. Records since then:

Twins 12-18
Tigers 18-11
White Sox 25-5

The White Sox record is all kinds of ridiculous and represents their best 30 game period in 27 years. Part of it is built on playing poor teams but they did play against the Braves, Tigers and Rangers in that span. They won't continue to win more than 8 out of every 10 games of course.
The Twins record certainly doesn't fit in with their first two months but I'm not sure that it isn't a good indication of where they end up. Their problem is the starting pitching and boy has it been a problem! Time after time in the last month their starters have been blown off of the mound. Three of their five starters have basically made games unwinnable for them. Not to mention the stress on the bullpen. It's tough to win games in that situation. If the Twins starters don't improve, they'll finish below .500 and well out of contention.
Interestingly, the second half starts off with a bang as the Twins host the Sox at Target Field. A Twins sweep puts them ahead by a half game. A White Sox sweep puts the Twins 7.5 games out and all but ends their season. Even if the Sox win 3 of 4 that means a 5.5 game lead and a mighty big hole to climb out of.
We'll know more about the rest of the season a mere four games from now.