AL East - The standings look upside down. I’m really not surprised that the Yankees are struggling.
AL Central - No big surprises this early. It could be a good chase. The Tigers should probably win it but I think the race will be tight.
AL West - The Angels are the big disappointment. They should be up there with the Rangers but haven’t found any stride. They need a run of wins.
NL East - Again, the standing are upside down.
NL Central - Pretty much predicable but still, how can the Cubs, with all their money suck so bad? Cubs and the Cubs fans are nothing other than losers. There is nothing cute or lovable about that crap franchise. If you are a Cubs fan, wave a white flag and just give it up and disavow them. Get a life.
NL West - Not a surprise but the Giants have to be in panic mode.
Anyway, its a long season. A lot can happen. The current standings won’t last long. Enjoy! That’s what it’s all about. Welcome to summer.
It’s a bit too early to put a lot of stock in W-L records. The Blue Jays are 6-5 but individual statistics at this point are so warped it’s hard to divine who’s going to be a bust and who’s going to break out.
I will say that J.P. Arencibia has been so bad at the plate that it’s difficult not to fear that he’s not really a major league hitter; he hit 23 home runs last year but demonstrated the kind of K/BB ratio that says “this will either get better or this guy is going the way of Joe Charbonneau.” So far he’s hitting about .066 and believe me, it’s not a fluke or a small sample size; he looks exactly that bad. He is being outhit by Jeff Mathis, who going into the season was the worst hitter in the major leues by a country mile. J.P. rarely even hits into a hard out and pitchers are just totally dominating him with stuff off the plate outside. He looks out of his league.
As much as I love the Yankees, this isn’t going to be a great year. Rivera has finally become mortal. The starters just aren’t that good, outside of CC. When you look at the starting eight, only 2B, 1B, and CF are exceptional. Jeter and A-Rod are on the downhill slide, Gardner doesn’t look like he’ll develop as a hitter, Swisher is off to a good start but it’s probably just one of his notorious streaks. Russell Martin is not exactly heir to Posada, Munson, Howard, and Yogi.
There’s some panic here in SF, but not that much. People haven’t started jumping into the bay over Lincecum’s arm yet. And there’s been a “wait until the Dodgers play a good team” attitude as well.
Personally, I never trusted Lincecum - he seems kinda emo, susceptible to his emotions. But I’m not worried about him. The Dodgers, they could be for real - they have the pieces, maybe the puzzle is coming together.
I’m pretty sure I just lost $100 to my wife. In a fit of hubris, I was chortling about W-L records and she bet me the Red Sox would win more games this year than the Dodgers. Oh, well - it will make her happy. Sorry, Dodger fans. I fear I have jinxed the team even more than they were already.
Joe - we are playing a good team this stand, and losing every game. Nix panicus. Your team will do just fine. Unfortunately.
Well for the Atlanta Braves, we were expecting a team that could pitch really well but would struggle to score.
Instead, we have a team that leads the league (leading the Majors as well I think) in runs scored, but is 13th in the NL in ERA. And the advanced pitch stats like FIP are just as bad.
Plus, they go out and lose 4 straight to start the season, and then follow that up with a 5 game win streak and 7 out of 8.
The Tigers are making me more nervous than I thought they would. Their bats took a few games off, but Cabrera and Prince looked pretty good last night. Valverde hasn’t looked all that swift either. Why can’t Valverde just give us a nice 1-2-3 ninth?
A lot of Red Sox fans are quick to blame Bobby V. for the early struggles, and he has not been perfect, but he is far from the biggest problem in Boston. The real concerns are 1) no starting pitching and 2) no bullpen. In short, their entire pitching staff is horrible. The offense has beel somewhat less-than-sellar, too, but I think they are much more likely to come around than the pitching.
Panic mode? With a 6-6 record, 3 games back, and 150 games to go? There’s no panic whatsoever. Concern about Lincecum, sure, but certainly no panic about the team in general.
I really and truly think the Nats will win the division. I also think they are one big bat away from World Series contention. Their pitching is far deeper than most people realize and their bullpen is excellent. I recognize offense is a problem, and lacking Matt Morse, who is hugely underrated, hurts. I have watched every game this year and been to a couple and see a team that could be better than they have looked.
I disagree with nearly all of this. The starting rotation is uncommonly deep, with Pettitte and Pineda becoming available in May. Rivera had one bad outing then converted his next two save opportunities. Jeter looks rejuvenated and its too soon to tell what kind of season A-Rod will have. Gardner is batting .321 with an OBP of .424 and playing terrific defense (sadly he is on the 15 day DL right now.) The bullpen is excellent. The only starter I’m concerned about is Teixeira.
I can easily envision the 2012 Yankees reaching the World Series.
Yea, there’s probably a lot of hyperbole there. Still, when you lose an arm like that it changes things. Remember when Detroit lost Fidrych and the Cubs lost Wood. It doesn’t mean that the wheels came off the wagon but they got very loose. Pitching is so important in baseball. Hitting can get you through the season but if you don’t have strong pitching in the playoffs you are toast.
It will be a VERY, VERY long summer in Chicago if you’re a North-sider.
Slightly less depressing but no less hearetbreaking if you’re on the South side.
If you’re pinning your hopes on Andy Pettite I think it’s fair to say that’s not calling upon “depth.” Pineda could help a lot for sure, but the retired guy?