A little confession: I’ve always been more of an American League guy. The unique hitter does not bother me. I grew up in Seattle, looking too many sub-.500 Mariners groups. I moved to Red Sox/Yankees territory throughout the height of the rivalry within the 2000s and noticed the passion up near. I preferred George Brett and Kirby Puckett and emulated Cecil Cooper’s batting stance whilst playing whiffle ball (the Brewers were in the AL back then, kids). I turned into not happy when the National League won the 1979 All-Star Game at the Kingdome, rattling you, Lee Mazzilli.
The antipathy among the leagues that existed again in 1979 is not close to the level that Pete Rose and pals carried it to again in the day. The commissioner’s office abolished the league presidencies lengthy ago, so the entirety is now below one umbrella of authority. Still, regardless of interleague play, the leagues’ separation affords a shape to how we view things. We have MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year honors for both leagues. We talk about a crew being the quality inside the American League or fine within the National League or a pleasant catcher in the AL or the satisfactory 2d baseman within the NL. Of direction, we nonetheless have distinct policies in each league.
That sense of order provides an apparent path of assessment: American League as opposed to National League.
And proper now, dear readers, the National League is the higher, more unique league. It has overtaken the AL in each manner. Let me explain.
Head to move
This is the easiest manner to examine normal league energy. From 2004 to 2017, the AL gained interleague play each season, frequently by extensive margins — 154-ninety eight in 2006, as an instance, a .611 winning percentage that might be a ninety-nine-win pace over a 162-game season. Even as late as 2015 and 2016, the AL changed into conveniently ahead (.557 and .550 winning possibilities).
I’ve studied this, and it had nothing to do with the DH rule. Take out the Yankees and Red Sox, and the AL nevertheless had the superior file. The AL was absolutely deeper and better for a spread of motives, inclusive of agencies, which include Oakland being at the leading edge of the sabermetric revolution. Mostly, but the Yankees and Red Sox achievement drove the relaxation of the league to strive higher.
In 2017, the AL’s margin became down to twenty video games (a hundred and sixty-one hundred forty). Then, the NL eventually stuck the AL and edged beyond it with a 158-142 report. So some distance in 2019, the NL leads 31-26. Based on what happened last 12 months and the leagues’ perceived depth, plus the reality that the Orioles, Royals, and White Sox haven’t begun to play any interleague video games, I would count on the NL to another time pop out on pinnacle.
The NL has the two breakout superstars
You don’t need to overreact to early numbers, but it, in reality, appears that Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich have raised their video games to a new level. That looks like a peculiar component, to say approximately the reigning MVP winner. However, Yelich’s numbers are spectacular:
- 2018: .326/.402/.598, 36 HR, 7.6 WAR
- 2019: .356/.462/.797, 16 HR, 2.4 WAR
He’s on pace for 60 domestic runs and additionally has seven steals, so he ought to swipe 30 baggage if he keeps strolling. Yes, he’s probably to slow down at some point, but consider that over his beyond 151 games, he has hit .337/.422/.671 with forty-nine home runs. The idea of him hitting 50 isn’t absurd based totally on what we’ve visible because of the remaining year’s All-Star ruin.
Then there may be Bellinger, the first-class participant in the game thus far this yr, hitting .394 with 14 home runs, flashing the leather in the outfield, reducing his strikeouts, and smashing baseballs all around the region. Considering that he hit 39 domestic runs as a rookie in 2017, the idea of him hitting 50 home runs isn’t always absurd both.
Also, it’s really worth noting that Yelich and Bellinger play at the teams that met in the remaining yr’s National League Championship Series. Mike Trout, the AL’s resident movie star, hasn’t sniffed the postseason in recent years and would not appear possible to in 2019.
The NL is loaded with younger up-and-coming stars
I’m no longer pronouncing all of the brilliant new toys are National Leaguers; however, remember this list of rookies and 2nd-yr gamers:
