CENTRAL TEAMS THE STORY IN THE STRETCH

There will be three teams that win more than ninety games in the Central this year. 

 No, that's not a typo. A division long ill-regarded for its up-and-down ways will no doubt compile more wins than either the vaunted East or the Yuma-dominated West, and will place two teams in the BARB postseason. It is even conceivable, at this point, that either St. Francis or Carolina could lead the league in scoring, win 99 games . . . and yet miss the playoffs!

 Yes, that's right, that's how dominant the Central has been, and especially impressive the incredible hot streak of the . . .

CASSELTON HORNED TOADS:

At one point, Landon Bolt's charges were nine games behind Central-leading St. Francis. But over the last five weeks of BARB play, Casselton has gotten huge mileage out of scrap-heap free-agent signee  Bartolo Colon.

The burly veteran is 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in eight starts, including three shutouts...as red-hot as you can imagine a portly senior citizen to be. Another grandpa-to-be, 39-year-old Tim Hudson, has been at least comparable, adding a shutout and three wins to improve to 14-9. Casselton has ridden their veteran starters hard to avoid turning too much to their pen, and so far the formula has worked: despite losing Brad Ziegler, Sergio Romo and now Glen Perkins, the club has collected 40-plus saves from their bullpen-by-committee as they enter the final two weeks of play.

As a consequence, the red-hot Horned Toads have three times run up winning streaks of eight or more games, and in the second week of September, caught the Kansans and, for the first time in over a year, led the Central Division with ten games to play.   After fading in the final month of the 2013 campaign and finishing just four games behind St. Francis, this fabulous stretch drive run has the Horned Toads on the cusp of not just making the playoffs, not just winning the Central, but perhaps winning more than 100 games and leading the entire loop in victories.   Amazing!

ST.FRANCIS KANSANS:

The former Friars, meanwhile, have suffered terribly on the injury front. IF Michael Cuddyer spent a second stint on the DL, 3B Pedro Alvarez has been fitted with a walking boot and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Most galling of all: likable team HR leader Chris Davis (36 bombs, 99 RBI) was suspended from the rest of the 2014 season when he failed a drug test for an unauthorized stimulant, Adderall. 

While Commissioner Andrew Haynes suggested that Davis might qualify for post-season action, Kansans owner Scott Hatfield was less sanguine. "We can't count on Chris," Hatfield brooded. "We're disappointed in him. The team misses him, but we have to go on without him." St. Francis, faced with a loss of Alvarez and Davis's left-handed power, swung a deal to acquire the soon-to-retire slugger Adam Dunn. Dunn, spotted almost exclusively against right-handers as a DH, has so far had a positive impact, hitting six homers in limited duty, while RF Jose Bautista gamely played both 1B and 3B to help paper over some of the lineup holes with so many players on the mend. So far, the Kansans have staved off total collapse, and remain neck-and-neck with the hard-charging Horned Toads. But anything could happen!

CAROLINA WILDCATS:  

No club has been more impressive in terms of its offense in the second half. Josh Donaldson (.294, 30 HR, 98 RBI) and Yasiel Puig (.336, 33, 113) have been unstoppable with the bat, more than making up for the loss of Carlos Gonzalez. The Wildcasts won their franchise-record 85th game last week and are easily on pace for more than ninety wins, and their top three starting pitchers (Scott Kazmir, Jordan Zimmerman and James Shields) could match up with any club in a short series. 

Their problem? A ragtag bullpen, stretched beyond its limits by injuries to starters Homer Bailey and Hyin-Jin-Ryu. This is a club that will probably have more wins than any club in the East when it's all said and done, yet miss the playoffs. No doubt, based on the second half, they have to be favored contenders for 2015.

Taking all this into the conversation, it might be said that the Central is the toughest division in the 2014 BARB season. The Central's top four teams average 83 wins as of Sept. 12th in BARB, compared with the East (75 wins) or the West (73 wins). What makes this especially strange is that Yuma, Worcester and Frostbite Falls all collected more than 100 wins in the 2013 season, and with just twelve games left in the schedule it is doubtful that any will reach that mark again. In fact, neither the Eliminators and Squirrels are likely to exceed 90 wins. Is this what PARITY looks like?

FIREBIRDS FIRST TO CLINCH

With relatively-little fanfare, the Yuma Firebirds knocked off Worcester on Game Day 145 behind eight strong innings from Mat Latos (5-6, 3.23) to improve to 92-52, and in the process clinch another Western Division title.  The traditional power in the West, Yuma has now won eight divisional titles and will qualify for the playoffs for the tenth time since the founding of BARB in 2003.

Yuma's strength: pitching, pitching and more pitching.   The Firebirds lead all of BARB with a 3.17 staff ERA.   Their starters have compiled a league-leading 23 games, and while their bullpen is not as spectacular as Worcester's group of strikeout artists, they've been effective: 18 wins, 40 saves, and an overall team record of 77-2 when leading after seven innings.


On the down side, injuries or slumps on the part of Joey Votto, Nick Swisher, Ryan Braun and Andrelton Simmons have depressed a once-potent offense, which heads towards the post-season with only one player (Andrew McCutchen) having an All-Star quality season, and thus an offense that is merely in the middle of the BARB pack.   And, speaking of Latos, word has come down that tendinitis will likely the force the big right-hander to the sidelines for the playoffs.   No doubt Yuma feels comfortable with its pitching depth, with hot rookie Marcus Stroman (4-3, 3.77) and capable Jeff Samardzjia (10-7, 4.58) around to pick up for aces David Price, Gerrit Cole and Chris Sale.