Brisbane Koalas
The Koalas have the best team ERA in the league, but are near the bottom in runs scored. In other words, they're the opposite of Jersey City, but with worse results. The team has played well in Australia, but have the second most road losses (30) in the SLB.
It's kind of a no-name offense in Brisbane, as Carl Crawford and Ian Kinsler are your offensive leaders. The team hasn't gotten as much out of Joey Votto or Nick Markakis as they'd hoped, but the team is pretty young and should improve. Catcher has been an automatic out most of the year, while shortstop has also been mostly non-productive.
The pitching has been outstanding, which has been surprising considering the lack of "superstars" on the staff. Jason Marquis started hot, but got hurt, so Clayton Kershaw came in and has impressed. Aaron Cook, Joel Piniero....not who you'd expect to ride the leaderboards in ERA, but the Koalas have done a great job getting the most out if its pitchers.
The bullpen is arguably the best in baseball. Outside of a few rough ERA's (Zavada, Webb), the pen is stacked with sub-3.00 ERA's. Can an arm or two be packaged for a power bat?
Caracas Bolivares
The more things change, the more they stay the same. GM Tom Hey always seems to put together a team that pounds the heck out of the ball, but struggles to keep runs off the board. So it goes with Caracas, who are 3rd in runs scored, but 13th in team ERA. Will there be any starting pitching available at the deadline?
Jacoby Ellsbury for MVP? The young center fielder has 66 extra base hits (including 17 triples). Then there is just power everywhere in the heart of the order, with Prince Fielder and Alex Rodriguez, plus All-Star Chris Coghlan and his .330 average. The only player who has really struggled is Dan Uggla, who has been replaced by Luis Valbuena.
While Johan Santana and Felix Hernandez have been nails at the top of the rotation, there has been a lot of problems elsewhere. J.A. Happ has been knocked around, and John Lester has struggled with injuries. The team thought they were getting a great bargain in Livan Hernandez, but you get what you pay for.
The bullpen just isn't good. The lowest ERA (Litsch) is 4.31, and it's downhill from there. Is there anyone in the minors who could get a few outs?
Quebec Horned Frogs
The "hottest" of the World teams is Quebec, who has pulled to within a 1/2 game behind Brisbane (and tied with Caracas). They are fairly middle of the pack statistically, but haven't been able to put together a sustained win streak. Throw in some injury problems, and you have a team that can't get it's head above water.
The biggest home run hitter was a player who wasn't even drafted. After David Ortiz was injured on Opening Day, GM Michael Taylor signed Jim Thome to fill in, and the vet has responded with 20 dingers. Alfonso Soriano leads the team in RBI, while JD Drew is the SLG leader. In other words, lots of veterans. First round pick Dustin Pedroia is out for the year with a torn muscle.
Really great starting pitching, but it hasn't been enough. Veterans Oswalt and Smoltz head up the rotation, while the younger arms like Duke and Reyes have kept up. Tim Hudson has struggled, and has been demoted to the pen. Right now, all five starters have sub-4.00 ERA's.
Pretty bad. When Dan Wheeler is your premiere reliever, you've got issues. Dempster, Embree, Belisle.....no one can get the job done.
Fremantle Cormorants
The other team from down under is in last place, but just 2 games out of first. The draft philosophy was about pitching first, and it has worked, with the team ERA sitting 3rd in the league. Unfortunately, the offense is dead last in runs scored and home runs.
Not a single .300 hitter in this lineup, and little to no power. Mark Teixeira leads the team with 19 homers, but no one else has more than 10. Kurt Suzuki was putting up some nice numbers at catcher, but then got hurt, while the outfield has totally underperformed all season.
Outside of Carlos Zambrano (5.52 ERA), the starters have been very good. CC Sabathia started the All Star Game thanks to a 10-6, 2.63 first half mark. Burnett and Lackey have been great, and youngster Chris Narveson has held his own filling in for Matt Cain, who made just a single start before going out for the year.
Oh look, another team with bullpen woes. Mike Burns has been the only reliever worth mentioning, as even closer Jonathan Papelbon has been average at best.
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