The All-Star Game festivities have passed.
The July 30 trade deadline is less than two weeks away.
The weather is heating up and so is the baseball season.
The regular season returns on Friday with plenty of excitement and uncertainty.
Four of the six divisions are close at the top.
The wild card races feature plenty of contenders.
Twenty teams are within 3 1/2 games of a playoff spot.
Big stars will be returning.
Aaron Judge is flirting with more history.
And the Mets and the Yankees are both currently in playoff position.
Get ready for the second half with the storylines to watch over the rest of the summer and early part of the fall:
Will the real Mets and Yankees stand up?
It was a strange first half for both teams, the two alternating between Jekyll and Hyde.
The Yankees started 50-21, then slumped badly.
Their starting pitching went from a strength without Gerrit Cole to a weakness upon his return.
Giancarlo Stanton’s absence due to a left hamstring strain has exposed an already top-heavy lineup overdependent on Judge and Juan Soto.
Nevertheless, the Yankees are just one game behind the Orioles in the AL East, despite an 8-19 stretch prior to the All-Star break.
Then there are the Mets, who seemed to be headed for a trade deadline sell-off after a ghastly May that saw them go 9-19.
They have since won 25 of 38 games to climb into the third wild-card spot in the NL.
Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor could’ve been All-Stars, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos have made a significant impact and the starting pitching has been better than expected despite Kodai Senga’s season-long absence.
Both teams are positioned to be buyers, and have displayed reasons for playoff optimism, but neither one has proven to be trustworthy, either.
The second half will be fascinating in Queens and The Bronx, and it will get going with the two facing each other at the Stadium next week.
Judge chasing his own history
Two years ago, Judge set the AL home-run record with 62 long balls.
He could break it this season.
He already broke a Yankees mark for the most homers before the All-Star break with 34. Judge and Roger Maris had shared the previous record with 33.
Judge is on pace to hit 57 home runs this year, so he will have to kick it into gear to make more history.
Before going deep twice over the weekend against the Orioles, he had been slumping, going eight games without an extra-base hit.
In 2022, he caught fire after the All-Star break, slugging 10 dingers in the first 12 games.
Trade deadline drama
The addition of two extra wild cards two years ago has created more buyers in recent years, teams willing to take a shot and hoping to catch fire.
Last year, the final wild-card team in the NL, the Diamondbacks, reached the World Series.
There are fewer teams looking to sell, though with the July 30 deadline approaching, there are a few obvious ones with enticing players available.
The White Sox, Marlins, Nationals, A’s, Angels, Tigers and Rockies are among them.
Oakland closer Mason Miller, White Sox starter Garrett Crochet and outfielder Luis Robert Jr., Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, Marlins infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and closer Tanner Scott, Nationals outfielder Jesse Winker, closer Kyle Finnegan and outfielder Lane Thomas, and Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar and closer Carlos Estevez are some of the bigger names expected to be discussed.
A summer of impactful returns
You could create an All-Star team with the number of standout players who will be returning this summer from major injuries.
From two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom of the Rangers, Brewers closer Devin Williams and Mets ace Kodai Senga to star-studded Dodgers trio Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Angels superstar Mike Trout, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto and Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, the game will be getting back some of its biggest names.
These players could impact a number of different playoff races.
Baseball-best Phillies rolling along
Despite significant injuries, the Phillies own the best record in the sport by a considerable margin.
They are second in ERA (3.41), third in OPS (.755), fourth in stolen bases (99), third in batting average (.259) and first in run differential (plus-110).
They have elite starting pitching, a strong bullpen and a deep lineup when healthy that few can match.
Philadelphia, sitting at 28 games over .500 at 62-34, could win 100 games for the first time since 2011, and should be able to cruise to their first NL East crown in 13 years.
Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Co. are the favorites to win it all.
Dodgers falling shy of expectations
The Dodgers, billed as a superteam, were supposed to cruise to 100 wins.
They added Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler Glasnow and Yamamoto to an already stocked roster that won 100 games last summer.
Injuries to the likes of Yamamoto, Betts, Max Muncy and others have gotten in the way.
The Dodgers still comfortably lead the underwhelming NL West by seven games, but their 56-41 record isn’t what most experts expected to see at this juncture in July.
Of course, if they win it all after back-to-back early playoff exits, that won’t matter.
Look for them to be aggressive at the trade deadline to fill areas of need, particularly for a pitching staff that has been beaten up by injuries.
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