This is partially because I am bored at work, and partially because a lot has already happened in the baseball season and I love baseball. I don’t know if I am the only one, but it seems like April just flew by. At least us Tiger’s fans will not have to hear the April in the D song anymore on FSD. Detroit closed out an up and down month with an 11-11 record (now 12-11 after destroying KC for the 4th time this season). Since I keep my finger on the Tiger’s pulse through weekly updates, this will be a more general news and notes of MLB’s first month.
5 impressive starts:
1. Texas Rangers must have gotten tired of hearing how the Angels and the Tigers were going to run through the AL and were on a season long collision course for the ALCS. The Rangers have been baseball’s hands down best team in the first month of the season. They upgraded their pitching staff with Darvish, Holland has continued to develop, and Lewis has walked as many as Brennan Boesch on the season, 1 time. They almost opened up the first double digit division lead, and it happened to be over the Angels. This team is for real, and with playing in the AL West they will be able to beat up on the A’s and Mariners. At this point in the season, I would be surprised if they do not finish with the most wins in baseball.
2. Washington Nationals still boast the best team ERA in MLB. Their pitching staff couldn’t really be hurling any better right now. Their offseason moves have worked so far, as Gonzalez has made the move to the NL smoothly. The interesting part here will be how seriously will they stand by their innings limit on Stephen Strasburg, especially if they are leading the NL East in late August when he gets to the 160 IP ceiling. What happens if they make the playoffs? Just recently the Nats pulled up phenom Bryce Harper to play left field and hopefully add some offense to the injured riddled lineup. The thing I have been most impressed with his first two games have been his defense. He seems to be pressing some at the plate to make an immediate impact, but his defense have been making him standout. This guy has an absolute rocket. Last night (I know it was May 1st, but still), he almost threw out a guy tagging at home from left field. No big deal right, this happens all of the time. The only difference is most left fielders don’t even try to make the throw from where Harper caught the ball. He was 300 feet away from home plate. He got behind the throw and delivered a seed to the catcher. The ball didn’t bounce and the catcher caught at eye level. After watching the replay it was clear the runner was out, but the ump called him safe. If he is making plays like this every series it will be hard to send him back down to the minors.
3. Someone forgot to tell Derek Jeter than he is old and is on the decline. The Captain has the most hits in baseball with 37 already. He is batting close to .400 still and has been the perfect table setter for the big hitters behind him in the lineup. Jeter has found the fountain of youth apparently. He is even running faster to first base than he has in the past 4 seasons. Since he got his 3,000th hit last summer, DJ is batting a cool .355. It will be interesting if this can continue for the rest of the season, and with the way he is using the entire field to collect hits I think it can. With the Yankees gaping holes in the starting rotation, New Yorkers need Jeter to keep it up.
4. Matt Kemp is a monster. He took finishing 2nd in the NL MVP award last season to heart. He has been quoted in saying he wants to become the first 50-50 player. In case you don’t know what he is referring to, he wants to hit 50 homeruns and steal 50 bases. I’m sorry, but if he hits that many bombs, he will need to attempt a steal almost every time he finds himself on the bases. Kemp is currently leading the NL is every offensive category. I don’t understand why teams continue to pitch to him. The Dodgers have two offensive threats and the rest are mediocre at best major leaguers. With the amount of IBB’s he should collect this season, 50 steals might be easier than the dingers.
5. Phil Humber pitches a perfect game. Ok, it was against the Mariners so does it really count? Well, after they played run around the bases off Tiger pitchers last week, maybe I should give Seattle a little more credit. And regardless of opponent, a perfect game is a once in a lifetime feat. The White Sox pitchers have started the season very well, and will look to keep the South-siders in contention in the AL Comedy Central. Now the question will be, can Humber win 10 games this year?
5 less than impressive starts:
1. Kansas City was the hot pick to finish 2nd in the AL Central this season. They are full of young talent, and seem to have enough offense to win some games this year. That is still true, and there is a lot of baseball left to play for them to improve in the standings, but the Royals have already had a 12 game losing streak. Their offense has regressed significantly from last year, and even from spring training. The one saving grace for them right now is Hosmer has an extremely low BAIBP. He has been smoking the ball, but every line drive seems to find someone’s mitt. Baseball is a game of inches, and he is a few away from batting .300+. instead he is 0 for his last 21.
2. The Boston Massacre. The Red Sox are starting to turn the season around a bit lately, most due to playing bad teams, but the starting pitching has put together a solid week. I am still wondering if Valentine was the right hire for this lineup, but I guess that will play out in the next few months. The Sox have been plagued by injuries and a terrible bullpen. The AL East domination has seemed to lessen a bit over the past year or so. The Yanks and Sox are no longer the most feared teams in baseball, their players are getting old or are just injured. Both teams have glaring issues in the rotation with some bullpen depth problems. Could the tide have turned westward towards Detroit and Texas?
3. The Phillies are painful to watch. Their best two offensive players are out with injuries, and currently they are trying to win each game 2-0. The NL East should be concerned if they cannot build a big enough cushion to protect when Utley and Howard are back in the 3rd and 4th hole.
4. Everyone keeps talking about Albert Pujols not hitting homeruns and batting sub .220. I have a hard time thinking that will continue very much longer, but the Angels have a lot more problems. Their bullpen is a complete mess, and if I was a fan I wouldn’t feel too comfortable about any lead smaller than 5 runs. They let Fernando Rodney go to Tampa Bay, where he is having a standard Ray reliever’s year (dominant). They replaced him with the rosen bag. The Angels built their team on starting pitching and hitting. They have 4 guys that can play 1st base or DH, and now they just realized that this is only 2 of the 9 positions. They tried moving Mark Trumbo from first, but the dude is a butcher. He has terrible footwork, is not agile enough, has less than stellar arm strength, and is basically an all around terrible 3rd baseman. They kid is in his early 20s, he cannot be a full time DH at this point. The Angels just released Bobby Abreu to replace him with another highly touted prospect (Trout), and they immediately inserted him into the lead off role. This team will need to improve a lot to be able to compete with Texas because if the starting pitching cannot put in 7 solid innings, the bullpen is likely to blow the game. As we just saw a few weeks ago, the Rangers can knock out good pitchers very early in the game.
5. San Diego Padres. This team is just awful. I really hope Seattle does not have to play the Padres during an interleague series. I think San Diego has a very real chance of breaking the record for most losses in a season. I really don’t understand their situation. They just built Petco Park for the ball club, and then a few years after the management decides to go into a full rebuild. Usually that happens before the stadium comes. Oh well, at least they still have Ron Burgundy.
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