Everything You Need to Know About the MLB Season So Far

The MLB season thus far has been nothing short of odd. Some teams and players are living up to the hype and playing as they should be. But many aren’t, and that includes a few 2018 playoff teams. Some players are having breakout seasons, while the injury bug has hit a few teams earlier than usual. To break all of this down, let’s take a look at some of the surprises and the letdowns so far.

Surprises

Tampa Bay Rays, First in AL East

Wow. I don’t think anyone saw this coming. For a team in a division with the reigning world series champions and another with 100 wins last season, the fact that they’re in first place is astonishing. And it’s not like it’s close either. Not only are they in first in the AL East by 5.5 games as of April 19th, but they are also 14-5 with the best record in baseball. Led by CF Austin Meadows, who is hitting .364 for six homers so far, the team and its offense have been great, tallying 95 runs total, which is third in the American League. But that’s nothing compared to their pitching. Led by Tyler Glasnow, who has almost a sub-1.00 ERA, and reigning AL Cy Young Blake Snell, the Rays have let up a measly 49 runs, the least in the MLB. They’re the only team in the MLB that hasn’t lost a series. Though it’s very unlikely that they can keep this pace up—they have a .737 winning percentage—the Tampa Bay Rays are still a huge surprise.

Seattle Mariners, T-1st, AL West

Possibly an even bigger surprise than the Rays, the Mariners were supposed to be rebuilding this year after trading away star second baseman Robinson Cano to the Mets. However, they sit tied for first place in the AL West with the Astros, one of the best teams in the MLB. Despite trading their best offensive player, the Mariners’ offense has not lost its punch, as the team hit a home run in an MLB-record 20 straight games to start off the season. We’ll see if this power surge is just a hot start or the real deal, but as of right now, the Mariners are sitting pretty at 15-8 and are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

Tim Anderson, SS, Chicago White Sox

Tim Anderson isn’t the player that you would’ve tipped to be leading the American League. Nonetheless, here we are, with Anderson hitting a whopping .422. What makes this even more impressive is that he’s never hit above .285 in any of his first three seasons. This also means that there is no way that he’ll be able to keep this pace up, as Anderson won’t end up having the best career batting average ever, but this is still a very big and pleasant surprise for White Sox fans.

Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Cody Bellinger won NL Rookie of the Year in 2017. He smashed 39 home runs and had 97 RBIs. However, it seemed as though he regressed in 2018, hitting for a lower average and 14 fewer homers and 21 fewer RBIs despite playing 30 more games. It felt as though he might’ve been a one season wonder. But Bellinger is proving all the doubters wrong this season. Hitting .432 and leading the NL in batting average, Bellinger has been nothing short of amazing. He’s second in the league in homers with 10, almost half of what he hit last year. Like Anderson, there’s no way that Bellinger will keep up this pace, but he has been a surprise for the Dodgers and a good one at that.

Letdowns

Boston Red Sox, 5th in AL East

The reigning champs were drunk on success in 2018, but so far this season, they’re clearly suffering from a “World Series Hangover.” After winning 108 games, they currently sit at 7-13 and are in last place in a division where they were expected to compete for a title. Most scarily for the Red Sox, it’s the areas of the game that were thought of as their strengths that are letting them down; last year, they won the World Series behind a great starting pitching and an even better offense. However, this year, their pitching staff has the second worst E.R.A. in the majors, highlighted by ace Chris Sale’s 0-4 record and 8.50 E.R.A. The offense played by the Sox has been far from potent so far, as reigning league MVP Mookie Betts is hitting just .216, well below his league-leading .346 average from last year. While their bullpen is better than many expected, without their starting pitching or sluggers, the Red Sox are digging themselves into a hole in what figures to be a very competitive AL East.

Corey Kluber, P, Cleveland Indians

Baseball fans over the past few years have appreciated Corey Kluber as the pitcher who rose from a nobody to winning two of the last five Cy Young awards. He had his first three All-Star appearances at ages 30, 31, and 32: seasons (2016-18). Kluber won the Cy Young in 2017 as he dominated the MLB to the tune of a 2.25 E.R.A. and only 1.6 walks per nine innings. Though he wasn’t quite as good in 2018, he still finished third in the Cy Young voting and led the American League in walks per nine with 1.4. However, this year, Kluber seems to have lost that patented control, as his walk rates have more than tripled from last year, up to 4.7 per nine innings. As a result, he is now in possession of a 6.16 E.R.A. and has fans of the Indians very worried. Is this just a bad start to a season or a 33-year-old pitcher starting to regress? Fans of the Indians will be praying it’s the former.

Those Doing as Expected:

Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Unlike Mookie Betts, the reigning NL MVP has not had trouble picking up where he left off in 2018. Yelich, who hit .326 last season with 36 homers and made his first all star game, has gotten off to as hot a start as anyone for the second place Brewers. He’s hitting .350 and already has 13 home runs through 22 games, leading the MLB. To put that into perspective, the most home runs hit before May 1 ever is 14. Yelich has 10 more days to beat that. If you thought last year was a fluke, think again. He’s driven in 29 of Milwaukee’s 109 runs, more than a quarter of what he drove in last year. Couple that with his strikeout rate per plate appearance down five percent from last year, and Yelich is on pace to win back-to-back MVPs.

Houston Astros, T-1st AL West

When the Astros went 2-5 to begin the season, it didn’t look so great for the 2017 World Series champs. But since then, they’ve won 11 out of their last 12 games, and they are sitting pretty atop the AL West, tied with the Mariners. This is what we’ve come to expect out of the Astros, who are being led by former MVP Jose Altuve, who is hitting .316 with eight home runs. He’s one of six Astros hitting .290 or better, which contributes to their more traditional way of scoring, rather than just home runs only. Their pitching has been superb as well, as they have only let up 58 runs, which is second to fewest in the AL. Expect the Astros to keep up this pace and stay atop the AL West for most of the season.