Horsehide Chronicles

Umpiring just seems to be getting worse throughout Major League Baseball. It feels like we could devote at least one post per day to a blown call, some of which are botched so badly that it's simply an embarrassment to the sport.

Through two months (just about) of the 2012 MLB season, the American League Cy Young race features some usual suspects and one not-so-usual suspect.

That would be Chicago White Sox lefty Chris Sale. He hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention, but he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball for the month of May, and his numbers for the season are all solid. His first season as a starting pitcher is going pretty well.

The American League may as well take the rest of the season off. There's no point in trying to win the AL pennant this year. The Texas Rangers have already secured it.

The Rangers, in case you haven't been paying attention, have been the Junior Circuit's best team all season. They may have hit a rough patch earlier this month, but they're going to end May with the best record in the AL and the best run differential of any team in the majors. 

Anyone who thinks East Coast teams get too much attention in baseball might want to take a look at the current MLB standings. None of the teams in the AL East nor NL East divisions have a losing record going into Tuesday's play. 

It's no surprise to see teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays at .500 or above and competing for a division title or wild-card spot in the American League.

The baseball gods are really testing the Los Angeles Angels' collective resolve this season.

First, the Angels had to deal with Albert Pujols' prolonged slump, which sucked the life out of their offense and was painful to watch from beginning to end. It also may or may not have cost hitting coach Mickey Hatcher his job.

After holding relatively steady for the past couple of weeks, we have some shuffling in the NL Rookie of the Year rankings. 

There's a change at the top, due to the previous week's front-runner fighting through a slump. That's created an opportunity for others to move up, including one guy whose bat has stayed hot.

With a little over a week to go in the month of May, the race for the American League Cy Young award is starting to heat up.

As things stand right now, there are some pretty heavy hitters in the mix to win the award, including several former Cy Young winners. The guys who are supposed to be pitching well are pitching well, which I suppose makes perfect sense.

Have you been filling out any MLB All-Star Game 2012 ballots at the ballpark or online? I suspect that the balloting won't really pick up until MLB releases some of the voting results shortly after Memorial Day weekend.

Fans will see that their favorites at certain positions aren't getting much support and will try to pick up the slack. Perhaps an undeserving player or two will be the leading vote-getter due to a larger fanbase, as fans will attempt to give their candidate a push. That seems to be how this usually goes.

Nine teams entered the 2012 Major League Baseball season with payrolls in excess of $100 million.

What had been a dream season for the Los Angeles Dodgers thus far took a major blow on Monday, with news that MVP favorite Matt Kemp would be put on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring.