Red Sox-Yankees highlights this week in baseball

This week brings the end of the third month of the MLB, as well as the mathematical mid-point of the season. By the time we close the book in June and the calendar in July, each team will have played at least 81 matches (as long as the weather cooperates).

An elite class has emerged in the AL. At this point, it would require a major reversal of fortune for one of the Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, Indians or Mariners to miss the playoffs. Among the teams that are not in the playoffs earlier this week, the Angels are closest to a playoff spot, and they are six games behind the Mariners for the second wild card.

NL is at the opposite pole. None of the three Division Chiefs – the Braves, Brewers and Diamondbacks – have a lead of more than 2.5 games. Teams currently in the wild card position, the Cubs and Phillies, are 1.5 and 0.5, respectively, ahead of their closest rivals, the Nationals and Dodgers. Add to that the Cardinals, who are 1.5 behind the second wild card, and the Giants, who score last place in the playoffs by three games, and you'll have a chance to produce a drama in several races in September.

With that, let's set the table for the last week of the real first half of baseball.

Hitters to watch this week

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rocky Mountains

Arenado has played five of his last six games, scoring 11-for-29 with a pair of doubles and 13 RBIs for his five shots. He now hits .318 / .403 / .595 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs on the season, and will soon be part of the LN 's star team for the fourth consecutive season. The Rockies spend the entire week on the road, visiting the Giants and the Dodgers. Arenado hits .276 / .375 / .493 with six home runs this season.

Odubel Herrera, OF, Phillies

I have written about Herrera's frenzy during this week's Nine Innings, but it deserves to be mentioned here too. The Philadelphia center player is one of the best baseball hitters, with a 19-in-45 record with six homers, two doubles and 12 RBIs in his last 10 games. He now hits .305 / .358 / .505 on the season, and is almost certainly scoring for the second all-star game of his four-year career. He has a reputation for being a streaked striker, but apart from a string of 11 games earlier this month and a few games lost at the very beginning of the season, his batting average was over .300 all over the # 39; year.

Jose Ramirez, 3B, Indians and Francisco Lindor, SS, Indians

They still do it. Ramirez and Lindor are two of the league's top hitters at the same time for at least the third time this season. In the last two weeks, Ramirez is 14-in-44 with a .456 OBP, four homers, nine RBIs and five interceptions. Lindor, meanwhile, has a 16-in-50 record with a .417 OBP, five homers, nine RBIs and two interceptions during that period. Their combined performance this season continues to surprise: .296 / .391 / .584 with 42 homers, 44 doubles, 22 steals, 118 runs and 96 RBIs.

Nelson Cruz, DH, Mariners

Cruz is right there with Arenado, Herrera, Ramirez and Lindor among the best baseball hitters in the last two weeks. Cruz is on a sequence of eight games, during which he passed 14-in-31 with four homers, two doubles and 10 RBIs. He raised his .244 / .358 / .573 as of .248 / .338 / .514 at that time, making himself a candidate for his fifth all-star game in the last six seasons.

Shin-soo Choo, OF, Rangers

At SI.com, we discussed the subject of the most underrated player in a previous column of the Nine Innings this season. That no one mentioned Choo only underscores how much he has been underestimated throughout his career. The 36-year-old athlete has a .280 / .393 / .481 record with 14 homers, 17 doubles, 52 walks and 36 runs produced in 349 appearances over the season. He brings a series of eight games this week, and has been burning throughout the month, reducing the .338 / .469 / .623 in 20 games.

Choo played in three post-seasons in his career, and in two of these, he had only one match. Since the Rangers are not going anywhere this season, it would be good to see Choo shipped to a competitor before the trade deadline. The two years and $ 41 million remaining on his contract after this year, however, could complicate that.

Pitchers to watch this week

Trevor Bauer, RP, Indians

Bauer has been imposed as one of the best pitchers of the majors this season, which has been presented in the last six weeks. Bauer made eight starts in that time, hitting at least 10 batters in six of them. He will take a 2.44, 1.09 WHIP ERA, 31.7% withdrawal rate, and 140 strikeouts on his Friday departure in Oakland.

Chris Sale, SP, Red Sox

The sale has already reached the Jon-Hamm-at-the-end-of-Mad-Men status. Is it the year he finally wins this elusive Cy Young Award? He has a PIM of 2.56, 2.48 FIP, 0.93 WHIP and 153 strikeouts in 109 innings. Bauer, among others, pushes him, but Sale should be considered one of the favorites as we enter the last week of June. He will only be starting this week, but it's a big shot, taking the ball in the second game of a three-game series against the Yankees in New York.

Jack Flaherty, SP, Cardinals

Flaherty made three sharp turns throughout the rotation, although it only had one win to prove. He rolled 18 innings and one-third on the starts, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out 26 and walking six times. The rookie now has a 2.50 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.01 WHIP and 68 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings this season. He has scheduled a start this week, facing the Indians on Wednesday.

Jose Berrios, SP, Twins

Berrios has been disgusting in his last four starts, posting a 1.27 ERA and a 0.95 FPS with 35 strikeouts and six strikeouts in 28 innings and one-third. Saving for a shot of four starts between the end of April and mid-May, Berrios has played the role of a real ace this season, and it's a good bet to win the first of which will likely be many nods in his career. He is one of only three throwers in the majors with two full games this season, joining James Paxton and Carlos Carrasco at the top of the standings. Berrios will then take the mound on Friday when the Twins open a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago.

Luis Severino, SP, Yankees

Unfortunately for baseball fans, but fortunately for the Red Sox, Severino will not start during the big three-game series of East AL this weekend. His only start to the week is Tuesday against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Severino failed to make a good start on his last trip to the mound, allowing three runs on eight hits in 5 innings and 2.3 against the Mariners. The last time Severino took the mound and did not make a quality start before that, the NBA and NHL had just finished their regular seasons, and the NFL was still a few weeks of staging its draft. . He has a 2.24 ERA, 2.33 FIP, 0.97 WHIP with 123 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings and, like Bauer, will push Chris Sale for the AL Cy Young Trophy.

Matches to watch this week

Red Sox at the Yankees, from Friday to Sunday

This may seem obvious, but this time it is for good reason. With the Astros, the Yankees and the Red Sox are the big triumvirate of the MLB, clearly one or two steps from the rest of the league as we approach the mathematical half-point of the season. The two East-East behemoths have not seen each other for nearly two months and have divided their six games so far this season. Assuming they both stay on schedule, the Red Sox will launch Eduardo Rodriguez on Friday, Chris Sale on Saturday and David Price on Sunday. The Yankees will counter with CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray and Domingo German.

Braves at Cardinals, from Friday to Sunday

The Braves start this week in first place in East Newfoundland and Labrador, 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies and three away games at the Nationals. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are in third place in Central NL and just in the middle of the crowded wildcard situation of the senior circuit. Most of the Cardinals' success this season have come from their starting laps, but that has been a bit late. Michael Wacha is on the DL, Carlos Martinez has struggled since his return, and Luke Weaver can not put it in place despite a decent exit in a win over the Brewers on Sunday. This pitch will be tested against a Braves attack that has always been good all season. Julio Teheran against Miles Mikolas on Friday, Brandon McCarthy against Weaver Saturday and Mike Foltynewicz against John Gant on Sunday.

Phillies National Championships, Thursday to Sunday

Speaking of the Nationals and Phillies, the two will meet for a big four-game series in Philadelphia this weekend. Both are directed in opposite directions in the very recent term. After seeking to take control of the division, the Nationals have lost seven of their last 10 and 10 of their last 15 games, falling three games behind the Eastern Braves of the NL. The Phillies, meanwhile, have been 6-2 in their last eight games and 9-4 in their last 13 games, boosted by the exploits of Odubel Herrera. These divisional opponents shared their six games this season, with the Phillies having recently taken two of three games in Washington over the weekend. The Phillies will send Aaron Nola, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez and Jake Arrieta to the mound, while the Nationals will go with Tanner Roark, Erick Fedde, Jeremy Hellickson and Gio Gonzalez.

J.A. Happ vs. Justin Verlander, Monday

The opening of the Monday series between the Blue Jays and Astros pits two pitchers in their 35 years who have rarely, if ever, looked better in their respective careers. While Happ has been great this season and deserves all the adulation for it, it is Verlander who is leading a really special campaign. He leads the majors in ERA (1.60), WHIP (0.78) and ERA + (234, which means his ERA is 134% better than the league average), while eliminating 130 batters and walking 21 in 107 sleeves.

Corey Kluber against Carlos Martinez on Tuesday

It's the second game of a three-game series between the Indians and the Cardinals in St. Louis this week. Kluber dominated the White Sox on his last start, throwing seven shutout runs while allowing a hit and a run, removing seven batters in an easy 11-3 win for the Indians. He is back in the race for the AL Cy Young, amassing a 2.10, 3.06 FIP, 0.81 WHIP and 113 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings. Martinez has struggled since returning from the DL, not reaching the sixth inning in any of his four starts and allowing 15 earned runs in 15 2/3 frames. The Indians have finally set distance between themselves and the rest of Central AL, but each set against a good team is huge for the Cardinals, who claim to be contenders all summer.

Jose Quintana c. Clayton Kershaw, Thursday

After all the injuries and all the unusually mediocre matches this season, the Dodgers head into the last week of June at 41-35, at 2.5 Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. Despite Chicago's stranglehold on the Cubs' irregular play, highlighted by a four-game sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati, the two defending NL Central champions are 42-33 in two Brewers games in the division. .

Kershaw returned from his second stint of the season over the weekend, allowing two runs on five hits and four hits in three sets. Quintana has still not found the measure of regularity expected of him, and he is coming out of a race against the Reds during which he has awarded four runs on nine hits and two walks in five innings. . It's a great start for both pitchers and both teams in the final of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.