21. Chicago White Sox (45-51) (LW 20) – Can they hit left-handed pitchers? The White Sox hit well against righties, but it’s the games against lefties that let them down. Chicago is hitting only .240/.293/.382 against southpaws this year, ranking near the bottom of the league.
22. Minnesota Twins (44-50) (LW 22) – Can the Twins piece together a starting rotation? Minnesota’s starters have not been very good this year, going 30-40 with a 4.82 ERA. Ricky Nolasco has ended up on the disabled list and Kris Johnson was knocked out early in his last start, so the Twins are currently looking at two holes in a rotation that has already had its problems.
23. Miami Marlins (44-50) (LW 15) – Will the Marlins stay committed to a playoff push? Things were going well in Miami for a while, but the Fish are now 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. Will they decide to sell any assets (Giancarlo Stanton?) before the trading deadline passes?
24. Colorado Rockies (40-55) (LW 25) – Can the Rockies win some games on the road? If they could play off of their games in Denver, they are just about a .500 team. But outside of Colorado, the Rockies are 16-30, which is the worst away record in baseball.
25. San Diego Padres (41-54) (LW 26) – Will the Padres make history? San Diego’s offense is among the worst the game has ever seen. The Padres have scored just 279 runs in 94 games. That’s a pace of 481 for the season. The last time a team failed to reach the 500 run plateau was the Padres in 1971.
