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Top eight takeaways from MLB’s first half

Aaron Judge's performance is one of the top takeaways from the 2017 MLB season thus far.

Blistering starts from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros

MLB youth movement, Cody Bellinger

Of course, while the Diamondbacks have enjoyed a tremendous first half, they’re still relegated to Wild Card status. For that, they can thank the Dodgers, who are on a 107-win pace.

Bellinger has been a tremendous shot in the arm. But at .298/.403/.506 and 12 home runs, Corey Seager has been a steady catalyst in the offense. Even Yasiel Puig (.251/.331/.458, 14 home runs) is in the midst of the most complete offensive season of his career.

The pitching has also been tremendous. Clayton Kershaw is allowing more home runs than usual. But he still has a 2.47 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, a K/9 rate of 10.13, and some of the nastiest stuff in baseball.

Behind Kershaw, Kenley Jansen anchors one of baseball’s best bullpens. The ingredients are certainly in Los Angeles for the Dodgers to finally get to the World Series.

But as good as Los Angeles has been, the Dodgers have baseball’s second best record.

The league’s best record resides in Houston, where the Astros are winning two of every three games and on pace for a 108-win campaign.

Houston’s pitching staff has been beaten up, but is still one of the best in the league. Offensively, the Astros are a juggernaut. Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Carlos Correa are the leaders but really, the Houston offense doesn’t have any holes.

There’s always a random element to the MLB playoffs. But based on pure talent, it’s hard to imagine anyone derailing a Los Angeles/Houston World Series.

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