SI:AM | Five Things to Watch in MLB’s Second Half

Plus, previewing every group at the Women’s World Cup.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m so relieved to have endured the slowest sports week of the year.

In today’s SI:AM:

⚾ Second-half MLB story lines

🌏 Women’s world cup previews

❌ Another coach fired at Northwestern

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MLB’s second half starts now

Now after the All-Star break, the season gets serious. Every team is back in action tonight, including notable series like Marlins-Orioles, Diamondbacks–Blue Jays, Reds-Brewers and Astros-Angels. Here’s what you should be paying attention to over the rest of the season.

Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani is the most compelling player in baseball, even as the Angels continue to disappoint. He’s having the best offensive season of his career, with a major-league-leading 32 home runs. It’s not out of the question that he makes a run at Aaron Judge’s AL-record 62 home runs. And while Ohtani’s pitching numbers have slipped a bit compared to last season, he’s still excellent, leading the majors with just 6.01 hits allowed per nine innings. Ohtani has a chance to do something no player has done before: lead the majors in both a hitting and pitching stat.

Also watch for the possibility that Ohtani could be traded before the Aug. 1 deadline. As Tom Verducci wrote Wednesday, it’s unlikely, but you can’t rule out the possibility that some team would send an offer the Angels can’t refuse and add Ohtani for a playoff run.

The Reds

Cincinnati is one of the most pleasant surprises in the majors. Excluding the shortened 2020 season and its expanded playoff field, the Reds haven’t made the postseason since ’13. But they’re 50–41 at the break, leading the NL Central by one game over the Brewers.

The key to Cincinnati’s success, Emma Baccellieri wrote last week, is its youth movement. Several of the Reds’ top prospects have made their debuts this season—and hit the ground running. Shortstop Matt McLain has a .300 batting average in 50 games. First baseman Spencer Steer leads the team with 14 home runs. Pitcher Andrew Abbott has a 2.38 ERA in seven starts. And then there’s Elly De La Cruz, who in just 30 games has already made a compelling case that he’s the most electrifying player in the game. His jaw-dropping combination of power and speed has helped make Great American Ball Park an exciting place to watch a game for the first time in a decade.

Luis Arraez’s pursuit of history

Three weeks ago, Arraez was batting .401, sparking plenty of conversation about whether he could be the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams. A “cold” streak since then (he’s batting .291 in his last 14 games) has dropped his average to .383.

Even if Arraez doesn’t make history, the Marlins are still one of the more fascinating teams to watch over the final two months of the season. They’re 53–39, which is a .576 winning percentage. That’s a 93-win pace, which would be a franchise best. Miami also hasn’t made the playoffs in a full 162-game season since 2003 and is in good position to do so this year with a three-game cushion in the wild-card race. But can the Marlins keep winning? Their negative run differential and preposterous 21–6 record in one-run games suggests they could come back down to Earth in the second half.

The AL East gantlet

It’s not out of the question that four of the five teams in the AL East could end up making the playoffs. The Rays currently lead the division at 58–35, but the last-place Red Sox (48–43) are just nine games back. The Orioles currently hold the top wild-card spot, with the Blue Jays and Astros tied for the last two. The Yankees are one game out of the wild card, and the Red Sox are two games out. While MLB’s new balanced schedule reduces the number of games between division opponents, it’ll still be a dogfight over the final half of the season.

Disappointing preseason favorites

Two of MLB’s highest-spending teams are facing an uphill battle to make the playoffs after entering the season as trendy World Series picks. The Mets (42–48) and Padres (43–47) have MLB’s first and third-highest payrolls, respectively, but both teams are scrambling to sneak into the playoffs. The Padres are six games behind the Diamondbacks for the final wild-card spot, and the Mets are seven games out. Can either of them get hot in the next couple of weeks, or will they be selling at the deadline?

The best of Sports Illustrated

John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports

• With the Women’s World Cup less than a week away, our previews of every group are now live: Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H.
• Gilberto Manzano has a list of 11 NFL teams whose Super Bowl windows are closing quickly.
• Wrestler Kenny Omega spoke forcefully and thoughtfully with Justin Barrasso about recent criticism he’s faced over a move that many considered dangerous.
• The Coyotes cut Alex Galchenyuk just 12 days after signing him, following an arrest last week.
• Northwestern fired its baseball coach amid allegations of abusive behavior.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Hawks Summer Leaguer Kobe Bufkin’s game-winning layup.

4. This dunk by Timberwolves Summer Leaguer DJ Carton.

3. This block by Kings Summer Leaguer Mike Daum.

2. Lionel Messi shopping at Publix like a normal person.

1. Joran Vliegen’s backhand winner to force a decisive third set in the Wimbledon mixed doubles final. Vliegen and partner Xu Yifan prevailed in the final set to win the championship.

SIQ

CBS aired the first color TV broadcast of a sporting event on this day in 1951. Which sport was it?

• Baseball
• Horse racing
• Tennis
• Boxing

Yesterday’s SIQ: WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman, who turned 51 on July 13, was best known under the ring name X-Pac. But he first rose to prominence as The 1-2-3 Kid, a name he earned after a 1993 win on Raw against which prominent wrestler?

• Diesel
• Shawn Michaels
• Bret Hart
• Razor Ramon

Answer: Razor Ramon. Waltman had wrestled as Lightning Kid before making his WWF debut as a jobber (a wrestler chosen to lose a quick match against a more established star) in April 1993. In his first two matches on Raw, he was known as The Kamikaze Kid and The Cannonball Kid, before facing Ramon on May 17, 1993, as just The Kid. After Waltman picked up a surprise victory, he became known as The 1-2-3 Kid.

Waltman spent three years at The 1-2-3 Kid before jumping to WCW in 1996, where he wrestled as Syxx and became a member of the influential New World Order faction. He later returned to the WWF and joined D-Generation X, another era-defining faction. In 2019, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of D-X. The following year, he was inducted again, this time as part of the nWo.