MLB Season Surprises

By Dan Rodgers

We are almost an entire month into the MLB season. There have been a few surprises so let's talk about 'em.

Records

• The Indians (12-5) lead the Royals (11-6) by one game in the AL Central
• The Indians (12-5) and Rockies (12-5) are tied for the best record in the Bigs
  
• The Yankees (9-6) are the only AL East team over .500
• The Red Sox (5-10) have the second worst record in the Majors
• The Pirates (8-9) are one game back of the division lead

Stats

• Athletics pitcher Gio Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA. He has given up one run in 19 innings of work
• Matt Kemp, Starlin Castro, and Joey Votto are the only qualifying players with averages over .400
• Three Yankees have five or more homers
• Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki leads the majors with seven home runs
• Two Royals are top five in the AL in batting average, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler
• Even though the Red Sox suck, they lead the Majors in fewest errors thus far (6)
• A fun one: Oakland's Daric Barton leads the MLB with 4.96 pitches per at bat

Fantasy

• Dan Haren and Jered Weaver, both Angels, are 4-0 and are the second and third best fantasy players, respectively
• Now on the Cardinals, Lance Berkman is the sixth best fantasy player with six home runs and an over .300 average
• The Pirates have two players, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker, in the top 20 best fantasy players

^Fantasy ranks based on Yahoo! rankings.

I'll pop up with more stuff like this later in the season. Also, later this week I'll have some predictions for this season.

Rodgers That

AL West

By Dr. Jekyll

AL West

Texas Rangers: Behind Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, this team was always going to score runs. The offensive addition of Vlad Guerrero has been a surprise, as he’s absolutely lit it up in Arlington this year. But what no one expected was the pitching to help out. Cliff Lee makes this team an instant World Series contender, with much thanks to the Angels for selling away the core of their team this past year and making way for a new face to emerge from the west. Welcome to the foray, Rangers.

Los Angeles Angels: Speaking of those Angels, Jered Weaver has given this club a chance to remain competitive for a lot longer than some (me) expected them to be this season. Mike Napoli is a stud behind the plate and with him leading up future young pitchers this will be a club that can still make threats even when in a rebuilding year. The loss of core players has definitely made an impact on the season, but this is a gritty club that has a bright future. Just not this season.

Oakland Athletics: At the start of the season I wrote that a healthy Ben Sheets made this an average team. Well, at their current record, I’d like to toot my own horn and say this is one of the few predictions I got right. They have a top order pitching staff, not that anyone who knows Billy Beane would expect any different. The team is still well of being strong, and the constant revolving door of characters that seem to take over this lineup makes it hard to get a feel for the direction of the club. This lineup needs pop, but with a few bats in the lineup they could make noise and play the spoiler role in this division.

Seattle Mariners: I hoped in this bandwagon and jumped off almost immediately. The Ken Griffey show was an awkward farewell, and was probably the most memorable part of the season for Seattle as well. The Cliff Lee trade was meant for a club looking to break through. All the Mariners did was break down. They couldn’t get Lee the run support, let alone any of their other starters, and have one of the worst records in the league because of it. King Felix and Ichiro haven’t gotten much mention this season, and this isn’t a fault of their own. Ichiro is still the best pure hitter of our generation, and will break 200 hits yet again this season. The lone bright spot in what’s otherwise a wash of a season.