MLB Early Thoughts (AL)
Written by Benn Hodapp, Tuesday May 12 2009
You would think that with roughly 20 percent of the season in the rearview that the trends that were agreed upon by everyone with an opinion would at least somewhat be coming to life. But let's see (scans standings) hmm, nope. Everything is upside down and I am left looking like a jackass. Awesome.
Let's take a look at the early goings on in a team-by-team analysis.
AL West
Rangers - 17-14
Sure why not? When your best pitchers are Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla and your most potent power hitter has been on the shelf most of the year, jumping out to a better than .500 start is surely on the horizon. How dare you, Rangers? Are you trying to hurt me? I hate you.
Angels - 16-14
Bobby Abreu continues his assault on never hitting a home run again after the 2006 Home Run Derby where he hit like 600 of them. Fantasy owners are surely rejoicing over his Willy Taveras-like skill set these days. I still hate the Angels, but not as much since K-Rod left. God, what a fanny that guy is.
Mariners - 16-16
What?!?!? I figured the last time the Mariners would sit at .500 was if they scratched out a win to get to 1-1. Come on now. Russell Branyan is their starting first baseman. Richie Sexson thinks he strikes out too much. But the otherwise powerhouse infield makes up for it: Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Lopez and Adrian Beltre. A Murderer's Row if I ever saw one.
A's -11-18
I'm glad that the addition of Matt Holliday has changed the dynamic of the A's and how they play. To date they have scored the least amount of runs in baseball (121), fewer than the Padres (122) who play in a stadium that is essentially Yosemite National Park. The young pitchers have a future, but...God this team sucks right now.
AL Central
Tigers - 17-13
That's fine. If you interviewed 20 knowledgeable baseball people and asked who they thought was going to win this division, you would likely hear every team in the division at least once. So far behind the arm of Justin Verlander and the bat of Miguel Cabrera, it is the Tigers who have stormed out of the gate. Well, 17-13 isn't really a blistering start, but first place is first place.
Royals - 18-14
Many people thought that these guys could be this year's Rays. I didn't quite believe the hype to that extent, but they have proven that they are no longer the whipping boy. They have really good young pitching and enough offense to compete. If Alex Gordon and Billy Butler ever decide to hit, they have a pretty potent mix. Last year's #1 overall pick Luke Hochevar gets his first start of 2009 on Tuesday, so we'll see where he is in his development.
Twins - 15-17
Joe Mauer certainly took no time getting back into it. He is hitting like .980 or some ridiculous crap and Justin Morneau is again putting up numbers that make him an annual MVP threat. The problem right now is pitching. Francisco Liriano is not even in the same area code of what he was before his arm injury and Kevin Slowey has not been up to par yet either. Joe Nathan remains an elite closer, but it is pretty alarming that through 32 games he has just five saves.
White Sox - 14-17
I still don't care about this team, like at all. The only player I give a crap about is Jim Thome, but he is older than Jesus and not even worth talking about anymore. Ozzie Guillen will eventually say something racist and stupid which will catch my ear for a day or two, but I just don't care.
Indians - 12-21
Sweet. Why wouldn't the team I picked to win the division currently have the 29th-best record in baseball only ahead of the Nationals? Cliff Lee will not repeat his Cy Young 2008, and if that surprises you then you should probably set yourself on fire. He has been pretty good though, so the lame start is not his fault. Victor Martinez is hitting like it's 2006, but Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and friends are all spectators to the madness right now. Is Fausto Carmona good or terrible? He switches every year. Right now the answer is terrible. It's a good thing they brought up super-prospect Matt LaPorta to sit and watch the team drown though.
AL East
Blue Jays - 22-12
The best record in the American League. Wow. I guess it's not really that big of a shock really. They have always had the talent, they just never seemed to be able to put together an entire season to compete with the Yanks and Sawx. They won 86 games last year after all. The problem is that their pitchers not named Halladay are Brian Tallet, Scott Richmond and David Purcey. I also don't think Aaron Hill (.353, 8 HR, 29 RBI) is suddenly Roger Maris, considering his best totals before this year were .291/17/78.
Red Sox - 20-12
I didn't think they did enough in the offseason to compete with the Rays and Yanks, but so far everyone is hitting, which has kept them winning games even while the pitching struggles. Tim Wakefield is the only regular starter with an ERA under 6. Ace Josh Beckett has been hammered ruthlessly and up-and-coming ace Jon Lester has been terrible as well. I expect they'll get better, but the hot bats will cool off a bit.
Yankees - 15-16
CC Sabathia has seemingly turned the corner and has started pitching well, but A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira are not exactly making a splash in pinstripes. This makes Yankee fans upset, which of course gives me endless amounts of joy. Alex Rodriguez got back a few days ago and saw exactly one pitch before depositing a ball into the stratosphere. Steroids sure do make you good at baseball, am I right? Oh...
Rays - 15-18
Evan Longoria is on pace for the following numbers: .358, 57 HR, 227 RBI, 139 R, 10 SB. I will go out on a limb and say that at least four of those numbers won't hold up, but holy hell. That's a sick line to be on pace for after one game, let alone 33. They have scored plenty of runs, but as is the case with the Sawx, pitching has been the problem so far. James Shields and Matt Garza have been good, but Scott Kazmir, Andy Sonnanstine and Jeff Niemann have been awful. Kazmir's 4-3 record is deceiving because of his 5.92 ERA. It looks like Longoria ramps it up when Scottie's on the mound.
Orioles - 13-19
I actually think that this is a team on the rise. The offense is pretty solid with guys like Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, Brian Roberts, Luke Scott and Adam Jones. But as has been the case with several teams so far, it is the pitching that drowns them. They don't have a single starter with a sub-4 ERA and the bullpen situation is a mess.
Stop by tomorrow, for my thoughts on the NL.
Photo Credit: Cliff Welch / Icon SMI
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4 comments
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I'm glad that a different review can be written for the Tigers now. Doing just enough to win. 'Nuff Said.
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I will never count the Twins out, Mychal. They've competed too many times with average teams for me to do that. Run support is a problem, but with his ERA well over 5 it is on Liriano now too.
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I just want to say watch for Mauer and the Twins to make a move up their division. Liriano had no run support in his first 5 starts but is getting it now and he will hit his stride and with Mauer, Morneau and the rest of that small ball line up will hit their stride soon. They have one of the best closers in baseball so if they get a lead, they will hardly ever lose it. Let me just say, Welcome back Joe Mauer!
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I didn't even know Thome was on the W. Sox. I too do not care about that team. And the Rangers shouldn't shock that much, in the AL West, anybody can win it. Literally ANYBODY. There's a 4.7% chance the Royals switch divisions and win it.