MLB 2018 Second Half: Yankees vs. Red Sox, Manny Machado On Dodgers Among Top Storylines

The 2018 MLB All-Star break is finally over, and there’s plenty to look forward to in the second half of the season. Only one team is truly pulling away from the rest of their division, and a couple of players can finish with historic numbers if they keep up their current pace.

Here are three things to watch for in the second half of the 2018 baseball season:

Manny Machado and the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers proved they are all in with their trade for Machado. With Justin Turner and Corey Seager set to occupy the left side of Los Angeles’ infield in 2019, Machado is likely nothing more than a rental. If you’re going to give up five prospects for a player that’s going to be gone in a few months, you better hope you make a World Series run.

Los Angeles is certainly good enough to win a championship. They’ve won five straight NL West titles and have many of the same players that helped them win 104 regular-season games in 2017. The Dodgers came one victory shy of winning last year’s World Series, so maybe adding an elite hitter like Machado will put them over the hump.

Let’s see how Machado performs playing in L.A. and outside of Baltimore for the first time in his career. A big postseason run could prove that the Dodgers’ trade was worth the risk while earning Machado millions of dollars in the offseason.

AL East Race

Three other divisional races are technically closer than the one in the AL East, considering the Boston Red Sox have a 4.5-game lead over the New York Yankees at the All-Star break. No other division, however, features the two best teams in baseball. Boston set a record with 68 wins before the break, and the Yankees are on pace to have a better record than the Dodgers did last year.

Will the Yankees or Red Sox be forced to play the one-game elimination Wild-Card Game after a 105-win season? That’s the fate of whichever team finishes in second place, making winning the division all the more important. Three MVP candidates (Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez and Aaron Judge) and two Cy Young candidates (Chris Sale and Luis Severino) will have a major say in whether Boston or New York has a better second half.

The AL East winner could ultimately be decided by which team plays better in their 10 remaining head-to-head matchups.

NL MVP Race

The NL has kind of become the MLB’s version of the Eastern Conference in the NBA. The sport’s top teams all reside in the AL, as do the players putting up the best numbers. That’s made for a wide-open NL MVP race that could produce an unexpected winner.

Unlike Mike Trout in the AL, there’s no clear favorite for the NL MVP. Jesus Aguilar, Javier Baez and Nick Markakis are among the NL candidates that no one would have predicted to be in the race for the award. More established stars like Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have a chance to separate themselves, though you could make a case that a handful of other players will emerge as the favorite.

Maybe a pitcher like Aaron Nola or Max Scherzer will have such a dominant second half that they enter the race. With so many candidates, the way players and teams perform down the stretch in September could ultimately be the deciding factor.