Among the impressive performances in the first half of the Major League Baseball season, the one that has caught my eye is Vladimir Guerrero’s apparent rebirth as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Big Vlad appeared ready for the scrapheap at the age of 35 but, on Sunday, he was rewarded for his 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 76 games so far this season by being named to the American League All-Star team.

It seems that the Rangers were correct in their risk of signing the oft-injured former Angel at the start of the season, despite many (myself included) thinking that all of his knee problems had taken the speed away from his swing which had done so much over 10 seasons from 1998.

In that spell, MLB betting pundits report how the Dominican Republic slugger had never failed to reach the 25 home run mark, but last year with the Angels it looked like Old Father Time had caught up with him as he managed only 15 in a season that was derailed by yet more injury trouble.

But now with the Rangers, where he was offered the chance to become a full-time Designated Hitter, he is back to the hitting machine he was as recently as 2007, with a .331 mark to go with the outstanding power numbers, which are among the top 10 in the whole of baseball – no player has more RBI than Vlad.

His renaissance has worked in perfectly with that of Josh Hamilton, who finally seems to be over the problems with his own swing which stemmed from his record breaking performance in the Home Run Derby at the 2008 All-Star festivities.

Hamilton, who has 19 home runs and is batting at a .340 clip, was also selected to the American League line-up and one of them would seem to have every chance of becoming the league’s MVP should things continue as they are.

For the Rangers are 4.5 games ahead of the Angels in the AL West race, and only one win off the best record in the league, thanks in the main to an incredible 29-13 home record and some surprisingly good pitching, including another fine comeback story.

The third of the MVPs has only been back with the club for a month, but starter Tommy Hunter has managed a 5-0 record in just six starts since coming off the disabled list with a minuscule 1.98 ERA which could soon see him anointed as the club’s clear ace.

This is a team with plenty of promise, and one that should really be eyeing up a lengthy post-season to influence the 2010 baseball betting predictions.

Related Posts

1. Vlad headlines Rangers renaissance
2. MLB: The AL Standings for Early July
3. Rangers vs Angels Match Up

Among the impressive performances in the first half of the Major League Baseball season, the one that has caught my eye is Vladimir Guerrero’s apparent rebirth as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Big Vlad appeared ready for the scrapheap at the age of 35 but, on Sunday, he was rewarded for his 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 76 games so far this season by being named to the American League All-Star team.

It seems that the Rangers and MLB Betting pundits were correct in their risk of signing the oft-injured former Angel at the start of the season, despite many (myself included) thinking that all of his knee problems had taken the speed away from his swing which had done so much over 10 seasons from 1998.

In that spell, the Dominican Republic slugger had never failed to reach the 25 home run mark, but last year with the Angels it looked like Old Father Time had caught up with him as he managed only 15 in a season that was derailed by yet more injury trouble.

But now with the Rangers, where he was offered the chance to become a full-time Designated Hitter, he is back to the hitting machine he was as recently as 2007, with a .331 mark to go with the outstanding power numbers, which are among the top 10 in the whole of baseball – no player has more RBI than Vlad.

His renaissance has worked in perfectly with that of Josh Hamilton, who finally seems to be over the problems with his own swing which stemmed from his record breaking performance in the Home Run Derby at the 2008 All-Star festivities.

Hamilton, who has 19 home runs and is batting at a .340 clip, was also selected to the American League line-up and according to the Baseball odds, one of them would seem to have every chance of becoming the league’s MVP should things continue as they are.

For the Rangers are 4.5 games ahead of the Angels in the AL West race, and only one win off the best record in the league, thanks in the main to an incredible 29-13 home record and some surprisingly good pitching, including another fine comeback story.

The third of the MVPs has only been back with the club for a month, but starter Tommy Hunter has managed a 5-0 record in just six starts since coming off the disabled list with a minuscule 1.98 ERA which could soon see him anointed as the club’s clear ace.

This is a team with plenty of promise, and one that should really be eyeing up a lengthy post-season run in 2010.

Related Posts

1. Vlad headlines Rangers renaissance
2. Rangers suffer Greene blow
3. New York Yankees at Texas Rangers

Tuesday will mark the rebirth of a baseball franchise if you believe all the hype, or if you are more of a realist will mark the debut of a pitcher who could become one of the league’s best given time.

If you’ve been asleep for the last year, or care not what happens to the Washington Nationals, then you might (and even then it’s only might) never have heard of Stephen Strasburg, the flame-throwing right-hander who is due to make his big-league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now starting Strasburg off against the Pirates seems to be a cunning ruse by the Nationals, who will undoubtedly have a huge crowd on hand to see their saviour take on a line-up full of players who have either just come from Triple-A or should be there.

Strasburg has dominated at that level over the last month at that level, producing an ERA of 1.08 over six starts for Syracuse, with just four earned runs in 33.1 innings and 38 strikeouts.

His numbers are undoubtedly impressive, and have been at all levels, right the way from his days dominating at San Diego State, through all three minor league levels which he has experienced this season – nowhere does he have an ERA over 2.00.

But what to expect now he comes up against the best hitters the world can provide? (Forgetting the Pirates, of course, because they don’t have any despite a hyped recent call-up of their own in second baseman Neil Walker).

Well, MLB Betting experts suggest it’s going to be hard to avoid the ‘bust’ label every time he concedes a run, but those who know more than me about scouting say there is every chance he is going to be a lot better than the last young starter to receive this kind of hype, Tim Lincecum.

Maybe throwing a perfect game first up will send things into fever pitch, although the caveat is always going to be there that it came against the Pirates, but it will be intriguing to see how his numbers stack up come September. My prediction – 10 wins, 110 K’s in 110 innings and a 2.75 ERA. Anyone disappointed with that would have to be a seriously hard man to please!!

And of course on Monday the Nationals will add the next piece to their puzzle – the next big thing on the batting side of the game, Bryce Harper. Maybe in a couple of years time MLB Tips will have this down as another Washington side challenging for a title of some kind.

Related Posts

1. Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals
2. Florida at Pittsburgh
3. Washington at Atlanta

It’s hard to believe but we’re already almost 30 games into the 2010 Major League Baseball season. That’s about 1/6th of the season already down. And so far it has been the Tampa Bay Rays that stand above all the other teams.

Not only are the Rays the first team to reach 20 wins this year, they are the first team to win 22 games. No other team, except the New York Yankees, has won 20 games yet. The Rays are clearly playing the best baseball in the league. And they will most likely continue to be at least one of the very best teams. They have great pitching that will continue to carry them.

But the Rays are going to need to be really good in order to win the American League East. The second best team is nipping at their heals and they just happen to be the other 20 win team and the defending World Series Champions – the New York Yankees. The Yankees are looking even stronger than they were last year. This promises to be a great race. Throw in the Toronto Blue Jays playing better than average baseball and the always potentially dangerous Boston Red Sox, and you have an awesome division.

Is there another division in baseball that even comes close to the American League East? The easy answer to that is: no. Not even close. But there will still be great races in every division. Right now it looks like all the divisions will be battled out by at least 2 teams. And we’ve learned from past seasons that no team can be given the divisional crown in June or July. We’ve seen other teams start out great and then fade down the stretch. That very well could happen again this year.

But right now, as early May begins to turn into mid-May, the Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in baseball. But the Yankees aren’t far behind. Every other team in baseball is no more than a distant third.

Related Posts

1. MLB: Are the Yankees the Team to Beat?
2. MLB: The Beat Goes On
3. MLB: the Rays are Soaring

One week into the season and there is just one team in Major League Baseball without a win, and what a bad start is has been to 2010 for that team, the Houston Astros.

Houston are in the tough National League Central alongside the Chicago Cubs, not exactly off to the greatest of starts either, the Milwaukee Brewers and favourites the St Louis Cardinals.

Unfortunately for the Astros, they started the campaign off against the two teams I fancied most to win their respective divisions, the San Francisco Giants out west and the reigning NL champion Philadelphia Phillies, giving them both the chance to get off to the flyers that had been hoped for.

Even worse for the Astros is that all six of their season-opening defeats have come at home, twice being shut out and only twice scoring more than four runs, and they go on the road staring a potential 0-12 start in the face.

While early struggles were always a possibility given the strength of their early set of opponents, a quick look at the Houston lineup would reveal doubts whether there will be any long-term hope as well.

Their star bat, for what he is worth, is Carlos Lee, but it would be hard to see him being one of the top 50 in the league anymore – a little power remains in his bat, but at 33 he is past his best and still hitting in the middle of the lineup.

Hunter Pence is the potential star of the future, but he managed just two hits in the first week of the season, even if one of those was a home run – one of only two the team managed in a stadium that certainly used to be batter friendly.

The rest of the lineup is a mish-mash of discards, over-the-hill veterans and youngsters, and even the youngsters are not top-grade prospects. They really need the injured Lance Berkman back soon but even the former top-class slugger is probably two years removed from his best, and has been hit with a series of injuries.

The pitching should be better, with Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt definitely useful at best, but the first week again gave little encouragement until Oswalt’s decent effort against Roy Halladay on Sunday.

And the bullpen – well that’s just a mess with no clear closer and relievers who probably wouldn’t make many major league rosters. Sorry if there are many Astros fans reading this, but you are in for a long season according to most MLB Betting Tips!

Related Posts

1. MLB Match Up: Astros at Giants Game Two
2. Arizona Diamondbacks at Houston Astros
3. San Diego Padres at Houston Astros