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Finding the possible Achilles' heel for baseball’s best teams
After shoring up the bullpen, Bryce Harper and the Nationals look like a complete team, but are they? Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Finding the possible Achilles' heel for baseball’s best teams

The Astros and Dodgers have been juggernauts, while the Brewers have surprised, the Indians have endured and the Nationals made a move to shore up their most glaring weakness. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have fortified their troops, and the Red Sox are simply hoping to snap out of the funk in what should have been their greatest strength soon.

Yet while the summer has carried along in a mostly positive fashion for all these teams, every contender and would-be contender has something that could torpedo its best-laid plans this year. Nothing is guaranteed in the dog days of summer, no matter how foolproof, or just plain lucky, a team has been to date.

Here’s a look around at the potential Achilles' heel for every midseason favorite in the MLB today.


Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price can't seem to find his Cy Young form. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Diamondbacks: Can the bullpen carry its weight when called upon?

The Diamondbacks are an awfully complete club. They're balanced on one part with a better-than-advertised starting staff built around Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray and amplified by Taijuan Walker. On the other side, they own a lineup built around Paul Goldschmidt, David Peralta, Jake Lamb, A.J. Pollock and reinforced with J.D Martinez at the break. The D-backs look to be the type of team that has the potential to rise from the ranks of the Wild Card.

However, the biggest thing that could go sideways is if the bullpen doesn’t hold up its part of the deal. Fernando Rodney has been notoriously hot and cold throughout his career, and 2017 has been no exception. His 5.23 ERA is the highest of any player with 10 or more saves on the year and continues to be an eyesore for a team with such lofty potential.

Boston Red Sox: Can the staff finally live up to its billing?

The Boston rotation boasts two former Cy Young winners in David Price and Rick Porcello and could soon add a third in Chris Sale. Yet what should be an impenetrable unit has been anything but, with Porcello and Price struggling mightily with their consistency on the year.

It could awaken memories of what sealed the early demise of the Sox a year ago when the Indians tagged Boston starters to the tune of a 9.46 ERA over the course of a three-game sweep. The possibility of Sale starting a pair of games would hopefully alleviate that, however the next time the lefty steps on the mound for the postseason will be his playoff debut, so anything is still possible.

Cleveland Indians: Can their offense kick into gear? 

Last year’s Indians were a dashing mix of speed and contact, blazing around the bases and manufacturing runs in a way that has been largely absent from the game for years. However, this year’s team is far less dynamic, seeing its runs scored total drop from producing the second most runs in the AL down to ninth currently. In addition, Cleveland's AL-best 133 stolen bases (with an 81 percent success rate) last year is down to only 50 so far this year with a lesser success rate.

The Indians have to ramp up the intensity in getting around the diamond if they are to successfully keep the Twins and Royals off their heels to even make a return to October, let alone make a substantial run once there.

Houston Astros: Pitching staff is not series-ready 

Thus has been the dominance of the Astros so far on the year that even the loss of All-Star starter and MVP candidate Carlos Correa was not enough to put panic into them, as they currently enjoy a 17-game lead that all but assures them a postseason invitation.

Yet one player’s status that should continue to concern Houston is Dallas Keuchel’s, as the team’s ace continues to be curbed by a neck injury that has twice sent him to the DL this year. With Keuchel in the rotation, the Astros can match up with any team’s No. 1 option, and while Lance McCullers Jr. can step in as a worthy replacement in a Game 1 situation, there is not another pitcher capable of replacing him once he is bumped up. Because of this, it is no wonder Houston is said to have interest in the likes of Sonny Gray, Justin Verlander and more as the trade deadline draws near. The Astros realize that fortifying their staff could be the key to avoiding squandering an epic lead up to October.


Clayton Kershaw injured himself in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium, something the Dodgers and Kershaw hope is not serious. Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers: Injuries curb rotation, again 

Part of the Dodgers' success on the year has been being able to avoid the plague of injury that spread across their roster a year ago when the club set the single-season record for most players placed on the DL. Clayton Kershaw’s mastery of the mound has continued, and Alex Wood has joined him, winning 10 of his last 11 outings and currently sitting undefeated on the season at 11-0.

While that is all well and good, the injury history of the majority of the staff is still something that can lead to reasonable pause. Wood himself has had a stint on the DL this year, and behind him the considerable ills in the past for Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill are well-known. Then there's the matter of Kershaw's back, which limited him to two innings Sunday — the same back that sidelined Kershaw last season. 

With the stacked rotations of the Nationals, Diamondbacks and potentially Cubs awaiting, the Dodgers have to head into October with healthy third and fourth options — not to mention one and two — or things could come to yet another premature end for the presumptive five-time consecutive NL West champs.

Milwaukee Brewers: Adding an arm — and backing it up 

The Brewers have been surprisingly good this year and have done so by boasting a balanced and capable lineup that can change the scoreboard at a moment’s notice. However, while they have been raking up wins at the dish, they have been compromising them just as easily in the field. The first-place Brewers are dead last in the NL in errors as a team and currently boast three everyday contributors who have negative defensive runs saved attached to them: Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton and Eric Thames. It's why they now find themselves in a tie atop the NL Central with the reigning world champion Cubs as the week begins.

Much of the attention aimed at the Brewers’ needs is that of adding a front-line starting pitcher, and that is not an inaccurate assessment. However, the best efforts of a potentially upgraded rotation can go to waste if a porous defense is charged with supporting its efforts.

Washington Nationals: What if the move they made wasn’t the right one? 

No team is out of excuses more than the Nats. The gang is all back together again and performing at higher levels across the board than they ever have before. Max Scherzer is in the Cy Young race yet again, Bryce Harper has a second MVP within his sights, and Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy are making waves of their own in that department along with Harper. Even injured spark plug shortstop Trea Turner should be back by September. And perhaps most shockingly of all, Stephen Strasburg is still active and on the bump — though he did exit early this weekend with forearm stiffness.

The only thing that stood out as foul around the Nats was how simply terrible their bullpen was. The club’s 5.18 bullpen ERA is by far the worst in the National League and seemed destined to eventually cost the team another shot at finally advancing in the postseason. However, those concerns were finally put at ease when GM Mike Rizzo acquired not one, but two late-inning arms from the Oakland A’s in Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. The duo will be charged with keeping games afloat that previously were easily squandered away.

The only hope can be that they actually got it right this time, and that the two stay healthy and, at the very least, do not revert to pumpkins in the way the last big-name ninth-inning acquisition did once he reached D.C. — Jonathan Papelbon. Because, once again, the Nats are out of excuses now, and time could be running short to make the most of this Harper-led roster.

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