Your Second Half “Half-Court Shot”

Portland: DNP, but due to shrewd reallocating, added .2 games on his lead on the Tornadoes. Choosing a half-court hero for the Rosebuds is easy, but it is not fun. You see, Paul Goldschmidt has been greatly underperforming this season, and as much as the Tornadoes hope it continues, he is the touchdown pick for Portland.

Flint Hill: DNP, lost .2 games to the Roseburps. The Tornadoes have two half-court heroes, both of them Pitchers (I can pick two, since I am making the rules): James Paxton, and the sentimental pick, Carlos Carrasco. Paxton is sporting a season ERA of 4.01, and Carrasco is working his way back from a leukemia diagnosis. If they can both get back to form, look out little brother!

Old Detroit: DNP. The half court hero for the Wolverines is a player that, if he is lucky, he may not own for longer than one more month: Madison Bumgarner. MadBum has a season ERA over 4, but all signs point to him being traded before July 31. Will OD be able to take advantage of a trade should one occur? Or will he be saddled for a few more months with MadBum’s large contract and subpar stats?

Pittsburgh: DNP. This is an easy pick, though last night he did not show he was up for the challenge: Jose Altuve. Altuve has been the spark plug for this Alleghany team for a few years, and this year he has disappeared. But can he, though he is diminutive, make the second half a slam dunk?

Peshastin: DNP. The Pears had an important member of their team suffer what has to be one of the most painful injuries you can get – you know what I am talking about, right? Haniger ruptured his testicle with a foul ball!!! He and his new titanium testicle will be the hero the Pears need to stay ahead of the Dragons while also overcoming the Alleghanys.

Haviland: “L”, 9-6. Yu have to know who I am choosing as your half court hero, right? Darvish has pitched to a 5.01 ERA this season, and while the Dragon bats have been heating up, their pitching has lagged behind. Will Darvish sink the hole in one to lead his team past the Pears? (What do you know… I’m about to hit send and noticed that Darvish has spun 6 IP with 0 ER today!)

Canberra: W 0, L -1; (-1)-0: This is another easy choice – and I think Kangaroo management would whole-hoppedly agree. Last year Blake Snell was a Cy Young winner. This year? 90 IP and a 4.71 ERA. Has there been a larger dip not due to injury? If he can find a way to last year’s form, his colleagues may take notice and jump on the Snell Shell.

Kaline: L, 2-8; It pains me to write this, as a Red Sox fan, but I think the one player the Drive need to return to form (read: stay healthy) is Aaron Judge. Judge has only played in 33 games (28% of the Yankees games) and if he can stay healthy, he is a giant force.

Cottage: DNP; Cottage management gave us a glimpse into their own desires for the second half – more of you should follow his example! He highlighted the pitching, and I think he is correct. In my opinion their second half hero needs to be Dylan Cease, because the Cheese need SP innings. He can provide a good number of IP and also good numbers.

Bellingham: DNP; The Cascades (and the Nationals) are paying Bryce Harper a lot of money, and do you know who on the Cascades is out-hitting Harper? I’ll give you three guesses: Tommy La Stella, Charlie Culberson, or Hunter Pence. The answer? ALL OF THEM! How amazing is that? So Harper, it’s your turn to put your money in the net and start hitting like India’s cricket team.

Brookland: DNP; I was tempted to choose the other high profile Free Agent from this past offseason, but Machado is doing ok (though his OPS is still less than he is being paid). The second half hat trick belongs to Vladamir Guerrero, Jr. He has only 8 HRs in the first half, but over the break he hit 91! So he has some explaining to do…

DC: DNP; The Balk have a few I thought about choosing (Mike Clevinger, Danny Jansen, and Andrew Benintendi came to mind) but his second half hole in one needs to be Kevin Gausman. Gausman has pitched 62 innings and has an ERA of 6.21. Does he know that those numbers aren’t supposed to match? Hopefully he can get healthy and dominate the rest of the season. The Braves and the Balk need him!