6. St. Louis Cardinals (52-44) (LW 7) – How much will the loss of Yadier Molina hurt? The MVP-caliber catcher may be out for three months with a torn thumb ligament. It will fall on Tony Cruz and Audry Perez to pick up the slack.
7. Baltimore Orioles (52-42) (LW 10) – Will the Orioles have an ace? Baltimore is struggling to have a legitimate top-of-the-rotations starter. Among the team’s pitchers with 15 or more starts, Bud Norris has the lowest ERA at 3.96.
8. Milwaukee Brewers (53-43) (LW 2) – Will the Brewers’ offense return? Milwaukee has gone 2-11 in the two weeks before the All-Star Break and their bats have gone stone cold. At one point, the Brewers led the league in offense. This month, they’re the worst, with just 29 runs and a .207 average.
9. Cincinnati Reds (51-44) (LW 12) – Can the Reds stay in the hunt while missing Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto? Phillips will be out for about six weeks with a torn thumb ligament, while Votto has been dealing with left knee and quad problems which could keep him out for most of the rest of the season. The Reds rank 22nd in baseball in runs scored.
10. San Francisco Giants (52-43) (LW 8) – Will the Giants be able to get any contributions from Angel Pagan? San Francisco has been shut out 10 times on the season and fell like and anchor out of first place when Pagan went down with a back injury. There is no timetable for his return, but they need him. Since 2012, the Giants are 40 games over .500 when Pagan is in the lineup, but they are 15 games under .500 when he isn’t.
