June is behind us, and now it’s time to focus on July as we approach the All-Star break, the draft and the trade deadline.
July is usually the time when it becomes clear who the real contenders are in each league and what the postseason picture will look like.
In June, there was a lot of movement in the three-division standings.
The Oakland Athletics, who have the worst record in baseball, finished 10-16 in June, better than seven teams.
The Atlanta Braves went 21-4 for the month and won 15 games in the NL East against the slumping New York Mets.
The Cincinnati Reds also came from 26-33 and third place in the NL Central, riding an 18-5 run to take control of first place.
On Twitter, MLB insider Bob Nightengale pointed out this interesting trend.
the oakland #TO‘s went 10-16 in June, which was better than seven teams.
Atlanta went 21-4 in June, winning 15 standings games in the #mets (7-19).
the cincinnati #Redswho was 26-33 and in 3rd place on the morning of June 5, finished the month at 18-5 to move to 1st.—Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 1, 2023
It’s safe to say that a lot happened in June.
In the case of the Reds, they were seven games under .500 and the NL Central seemed to be a two-horse race between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Even the struggling St. Louis Cardinals still had hope of getting back in the running.
But the Reds soared and are now on top.
The Braves simply extended their lead in the NL East and pretty much buried the Mets.
They even lead by seven games over the Miami Marlins.
Oakland remains at the bottom of the pack, but they still managed to outplay seven MLB teams.
They even went on a seven-game winning streak.
As July begins, more strange trends are possible.
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