The have pa sed. The July 30 trade deadline is le s than two weeks away. The weather is heating up and so is the baseball season. NY Post composite The regular season returns on Friday with plenty of excitement and uncertainty. Four of the six divisions are close at the top. Explore More 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. See Also 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 . Their starting pitching went from a strength without Gerrit Cole to a weakne s upon his return. Giancarlo Stantons absence due to a left hamstring strain has exposed an already top-heavy lineup overdependent on Judge and Juan Soto. Neverthele s, 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. Juan Soto and the Yankees will be looking to get on the winning track for the start of the second half of the season. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Francisco Lindor and the Mets will be looking to make a big playoff push in the second half of the season. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports They have since won 25 of 38 games . See Also Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor couldve been All-Stars, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos have made a significant impact and the starting pitching has been better than expected . 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. Aaron Judge, making a catch during the All-Star Game, Jordan Montgomery Jersey will resume his chase to beat his own home run record as the second half of the MLB season begins on Friday. AP 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, As, 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 Je se 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 discu sed. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you Enter your email addre s Please provide a valid email. By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! 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. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani loses his batting helmet as he gets struck out by Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi during a game earlier this season. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con 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 isnt 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 wont matter. Look for them to be aggre sive at the trade deadline to fill areas of need, particularly for a pitching staff that has been beaten up by injuries. Ryan Thompson Jersey