MLB First Half Recap

We've made it. The All Star Break has arrived, marking the first half of the Major League Baseball season. Eighty Eight games have already been played and we've seen a lot go down over the first three and a half months of the season. Some teams are playing above and beyond expectation, like the Cubs and Indians. Then you have the defending World Champions the Kansas City Royals, who are playing a little below par. San Francisco is living up to the even year hype that had followed them into the start of the year. David Ortiz is knocking the cover off the ball in his final year in the show. Clayton Kershaw is off to a record setting pace this year with walks to strikeout ratio. All that and a whole lot more have gone down to start the year. So lets take a look back at some of the highlights of the first half of the baseball season

First things first, here's where the teams sit at the all star break:
American League:
East
Baltimore 51 36 .586
Boston 49 38 .563
Toronto 51 40 .560
NY Yankees 44 44 .500
Tampa Bay 34 54 .386

Central
Cleveland 52 36 .591
Detroit 46 43 .517
Chi White Sox 45 43 .511
Kansas City 45 43 .511
Minnesota 32 56 .364

West
Texas 54 36 .600
Houston 48 41 .539
Seattle 45 44 .506
Oakland 38 51 .427
LA Angels 37 52 .416

National League:
East
Washington 54 36 .600
Miami 47 41 .534
NY Mets 47 41 .534
Philadelphia 42 48 .467
Atlanta 31 58 .348

Central
Chi Cubs 53 35 .602
St. Louis 46 42 .523
Pittsburgh 46 43 .517
Milwaukee 38 49 .437
Cincinnati 32 57 .360

West
San Francisco 57 33 .633
LA Dodgers 51 40 .560
Colorado 40 48 .455
San Diego 38 51 .427
Arizona 38 52 .422

Here's some of the league leaders by the all-star break.

National League
Batting Average: Daniel Murphy (WAS) .348
Home Runs: Kris Bryant (CHC) 25
Runs Batted In: Nolan Arenado (COL) 70
Runs Scored: Kris Bryant (CHC) 73
Hits: Daniel Murphy (WAS) 117
Stolen Bases: Jonathan Villar (MIL) 31
Wins: Johnny Cueto (SF) 13
Loses: Chase Anderson (MIL) Jerad Eickhoff (PHI) Matt Harvey (NYM) 10
Earned Run Average: Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 1.79
Strikeouts: Max Scherzer (WAS) 164
Innings Pitched: Johnny Cueto (SF) 131.1
Saves: Jeurys Familia (NYM) 31

American League
Batting Average: Jose Altuve (HOU) .341
Home Runs: Mark Trumbo (BAL) 28
Runs Batted In: Edwin Encarnacion (TOR) 80
Runs Scored: Josh Donaldson (TOR) 80
Hits: Jose Altuve (HOU) 119
Stolen Bases: Rajai Davis (CLE) 24
Wins: Chris Sale (CWS) 14
Loses: Chris Archer (TB) 12
Earned Run Average: Steven Wright (BOS) 2.68
Strikeouts: David Price (BOS) 140
Innings Pitched: Chris Sale (CWS) 125.0
Saves: Zach Britton (BAL) 27

So far in the regular season a few major milestones have been passed. Jake Arrieta of the Cubs has thrown the only no-hitter in the league, so far, this year. He no-hit the Reds on April 21st in a 16-0 Cubs victory. Max Scherzer joined some pretty elite company, becoming only the 3rd player in baseball history to strike out 20 hitters in one game. He joined Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson when he struck out 20 against the Detroit Tigers on May 11th.

Meanwhile, some guys at the plate have also passed some major hitting milestones. Carlos Beltrán (May 15th vs. White Sox) and Mark Teixeira (July 3rd vs. Padres) both joined the 400 home run club. Beltran also colleceted his 2,500th career big league hit. David Ortiz became the third player in Major League history to record at least 500 home runs and 600 doubles joining Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. Ortiz hit his 600th Double May 14th against Houston. Bartolo Colon also made history by hitting his first Major League home run against the Padres on May 7th, becoming the oldest player in big league history to hit his first career homerun at 42 years old.

Ichiro too keeps making history at his age. Recorded his 500th career stolen base against Milwaukee on April 29. He became the 38th player to reach this mark. Then on June 15th against the Padres, he recordedhis 4,256th professional career hit. That total includes 1,278 hits from his time in Japan's major leagues that are not included in his official MLB total. That number, unofficially, tied Pete Rose for the all-time record for most professional hits. He still short of 2,000 hits in the Major Leagues.

MLB's first half had a few interesting moments. There was Trevor Story hitting the cover off the baseball, hitting home runs in his first four big league games. Then we also had the Rays and Jays slugging it out in Texas. Oh and lets not forget about Jackie Bradley Jr. (29 games) and Xander Bogaerts (26 games) both having 20+ game hitting streaks. And July 4th weekend was a special one for Baseball, as the first ever Major League game took place on an active military base as the Braves and Marlins met at Fort Bragg.

All in all baseball has had some pretty memorable moments in the first half of the year. The best is still yet to come!