MLB 2022 American League 1st Half Recap

The 2022 Major League Baseball season is at the halfway point, and what a first half it has been. It didn't seem like we'd get a season due to the lockout that affected spring training, but we did get one and it's been amazing to this point. The All-Star Break is a pivotal point in three of North America's four main sports leagues (the NFL doesn't have a break, as the Pro Bowl takes place a week before the Super Bowl), but it is immensely emphasized in baseball. It is always important to be in a good place by the All-Star Break, and regarding the American League, it has seen a lot of surprising teams on the verge of breaking through. Here's how things stand in baseball's junior circuit entering the break.

East: The AL East is...well...over. I'm going to be honest as a Yankees fan: I didn't see this coming. The New York Yankees were coming off a 2021 season that saw them have too many up-and-down moments. They would have amazing winning stretches, but they would be followed by terrible slumps. It would result in the Yankees barely making the postseason as a Wild Card, and losing in terrible fashion to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. So when the 2022 season began, I lowered my expectations. Two reasons: one, I was not happy with how the month of September went for the Yankees last season, and two (and more importantly), my mental health can't allow me to have any hubris regarding this team, because the last three years have seen very disappointing ends.

So in a year where I don't expect much, the Yankees really show out. 64-28: the best record in baseball, and a 13 game lead in the East at the break. That lead is the largest division lead in baseball, but it's more than that. Home runs left and right. So much offense. Key hits when they're needed. In other words, it's the complete opposite of 2021. The Yankees are paced to break the wins record, and this Yankees fan is deliriously happy, because this is way better than I expected.

Central: The AL Central has not been a good division in recent seasons. It's the division that "somebody has to win," basically the baseball equivalent of what the NFC East had been in recent seasons. 2021 saw the Chicago White Sox win the tepid division, but they have hit a free fall this season. It's a close three-team race, but the defending division champions are on the lowest end of that race, which has the Minnesota Twins leading at the halfway point. In 2nd place, two games behind the Twins, is the Cleveland Guardians, while the White Sox are three games out.

The Twins have been used to being atop the Central, but what they haven't been used to is winning in the postseason. They have lost 18 straight postseason games, which is the longest such skid in all of sports. They are only 50-44 at the break, but it's enough to lead the Central. However, there's also the Guardians. The Guardians actually have an outside shot to win the Central for the first time since the 2018 season. They are 6-5 against the Twins entering the break, and that's important, because the new postseason format eliminates tiebreaker games and allows internal tiebreakers to settle postseason positions. The main one is head-to-head, and if Cleveland wins four of their final eight meetings with the Minnesota, they could be in the driver's seat regarding the Central.

West: The AL West race also appears to be over, as the Houston Astros enter the break with a nine game lead in the division. Now, I know we all mock the Astros for the whole "cheating" thing--and we should. The Astros completely destroyed the integrity of the game with their actions in 2017 and 2019, but ever since they were exposed, the team has reached the Final Four twice, and entered this season as the defending American League champions. The sting from the scandal appears to be gone, and the Astros appear to be proving that they never really needed to resort to such tactics in the first place.

The Astros' lead is the 2nd-largest in baseball, so really, the team's main focus is staying in pace with the Yankees in the American League standings. My goodness, what a rivalry that's been in recent years. At the moment, Houston is 4.5 games behind New York for the top record in the AL, but it's a foregone conclusion that these two will get the byes in the postseason; per the new format, the top two teams in each league will advance to the Division Series.

Wild Card: Where do I start with the American League's Wild Card race? The new format now allows three Wild Cards per league, which means more meaningful games in the home stretch. The American League's Wild Card race is very tight; seven teams are in a close battle for those three spots. While the rest of the American League East has no chance of catching the Yankees, they are in all involved in the Wild Card race, and I do mean all involved. The Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays hold two of the three positions entering the break, the Boston Red Sox are in the thick of things, and yes, even the Baltimore Orioles have a shot. Despite being a fan of a division foe, I am elated that the Orioles appear to have a chance; they have suffered badly since their Wild Card loss in 2016. This team had 100-loss seasons in 2018, 2019, and 2021, but this year, they are 46-46 at the break, and could be on the verge of a postseason appearance.

As happy as I am that the Orioles are doing well, I am much happier for the Seattle Mariners, who enter the break winning fourteen, yes, fourteen straight games, and would be in the postseason if the season ended now. The Mariners are the unfortunate owners of the longest postseason drought in sports, having not reached the playoffs since 2001. It would be a huge celebration in Seattle if they ended their long skid, but there's still the 2nd half to go. They are three games ahead of the first team behind the line, which is the Red Sox, so if they stay above the proverbial water, they should be postseason bound.

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