Is today the perfect Friday slate? Almost. Is it a TestiFriday slate where you crank some Testify around 2PM and start drinking? Does a Bison flip over an old Grandpa in Yellowstone? C’mon, what kinda question is that. But, no, today is not the perfect Friday slate. Despite having 15 games overall, 1 of which is in the afternoon and the other 14 are on the main slate, we are missing out on the Mets and Phillies who re-opened the second half last night with the Mets — as usual — winning the first game in Philly with their catcher hitting bombs. But now they are off today. They moved up their game last night because of ‘Air Quality’ concerns thanks to those dipshits in Canada (sorry Canadians) who have everything on fire once again. And they want us to give them a second MLB team again? I think not! SECOND HALF PREVIEW It’s like Opening Day all over again. Hope is renewed for every team and I once again look at teams fondly for wanting to stack them. Then, reality hits, and I remind myself that I should not be lured back in with teams like the Royals, Rangers, Blue Jays, Orioles and most of all, those damn Reds, who just year after year seem to be so tempting to be the darling and just don’t deliver. Well, guess what. The Reds are one of my NL second half sleepers. The Reds are going to leap the Nationals — who finally start to come down to earth. They’ll pass the Diamondbacks and they’ll catch the Cardinals. The real question in the NL is now between the Marlins, Reds, Pirates and Padres for the final Wild Card spot. The Braves will make a big splash and hold on, the Phillies are there too and the Brewers are just too fundamentally good to choke off. The Cubs? The warning signs are there and if you want a bold bet, take the Reds at +2200 to make the playoffs with the Cubs falling out. In the American League … Dear God. It remains a massive cluster-****. But nobody is positioned to finally get it right more than the Detroit Tigers. Baltimore’s likely going to come out in the second half and find a way to turn a 4 game winning streak into a 7 game losing streak, I want to believe,…...
