MLB Surprises and Disappointments

We are already past the one month mark in the 2021 Major League Baseball campaign. While the 162 game season is probably a little too lengthy, its a whole lot better than last season's shortened season of 60 games. Baseball is a sport where anything can happen, I'd say the best team does not end up winning the whole thing more than any other sport. 60 games felt like a sprint and baseball is meant to be a marathon. It is nice to have the full season back in full effect as we head towards the dog days of Summer. With that being said every game matters. The saying "it's early" is a common one throughout this league but that always bugged me. Games you win or lose right now can certainly end up being the difference between a playoff appearance or a full offseason on the golf course. As we are now into the beginning portion of the 2nd month let's take a look at some of the teams that are surprises and others that are disappointments through April.

Surprises

Boston Red Sox: This franchise has grown synonymous with the term "worst to first." In 2015 the Red Sox finished last in the AL East division. This was followed by three consecutive seasons in 1st (including a WS title in 2018.) They came back to life in 2019-2020, finishing in 3rd place and last place again respectively. So far they find themselves back on top of the division this year. In the middle of this opening month the Sox caught fire tallying 9 wins in a row. Their pitching has been suspect at best in recent years but has been a nice surprise for Beantown thus far with an ERA of 3.51 out of the pen. The best part for them is the play of J.D Martinez. He is batting .349 with 9 homers already, seemingly rounding back into his form from 2018-2019 where he was arguably the toughest out in the league. As a Yankees fan, please settle down Boston and save some titles for the rest of us.

Kansas City Royals: Is this small market team regaining it's magic from the 2015 title run? Through 28 games if you told me the Royals would have the 3rd most wins in the AL I would have laughed. The lineup may lack star power but they are finding ways to win games bottom line. Currently they sit at 5th in the AL in team batting average and are creating runs through the seemingly lost art of the stolen base, leading the American League with 25 swiped bags. You love to see the stolen base being used once again. In the age of the home run the stolen bag has all but dissipated. Kansas City made some underrated moves this offseason acquiring Carlos Santana, who leads the team in RBI's, and Andrew Benentendi. Benentendi struggled mightily at the end of his time in Boston but the lefty has shown potential with the bat and now leads the team in individual batting average. I am not sure they can stay in 1st place as the White Sox are filled with Talent when healthy. Time will tell but they could potentially be a dangerous wild card team.

San Francisco Giants: The craziest surprise has to be the San Francisco Giants leading the NL West. While the Dodgers are sliding with a 2-8 record in their last 10 and the up and coming Padres are playing average, the Giants find themselves a game ahead of those squads. Right now they're feeding off their pitching which was of course such a big staple in winning those three titles in the 2010's. They sit at 4th in all of baseball when it comes to ERA and are also 2nd in saves showing that they can win the close one. It'll be tough to keep up the pace as they've only seen the Padres four times in the first month and have not faced the former champion Dodgers yet.

Disappointments

New York Yankees: This was an easy choice for a team that is underperforming. Nothing was going right for the Yankees over the first month of the season. While last night's victory over the Houston Astros (cheaters) brought them back over .500, a 15-14 record is not what Aaron Boone and the squad was looking for. Previously I wrote an article regarding the Yankees issues mainly revolving around pitching. One month into the season and I am dead wrong. The staff has pitched way above expectations lately sitting at 2nd in the entire league when it comes to ERA. Ace, Gerrit Cole, has played a huge part in this as he continues to perform at the highest of levels. The bats simply need to wake up in the Bronx. Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez are the biggest disappointments in my eyes. Two years ago Torres went off for 38 homers. After a lackluster 2020, 2021 has been much of the same as he is still looking for his first home run of the season. Gary, who was seen as a generational hitter coming up through the ranks has shown little to no promise over the last two seasons even losing his role as the every day starting catcher to a better performing Kyle Higashioka. Hopefully the lineup that is lethal on paper can actually start producing on the field.

New York Mets: The other New York team has been less than stellar just like their Manhattan counterparts. Ever since their WS appearance in 2015 the Mets have had an above average rotation. This year has been no different. They are sitting at 4th in the MLB in both ERA and quality starts. The best pitcher in baseball Jacob Degrom simply gets no run support. The Mets are dead last in the NL when it comes to runs, hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI's. Hard to win that way. Prized off-season acquisition, Francisco Lindor, has not hit his stride and has gotten some of those famous New York boo birds. The star shortstop has been anything but so far batting .163 with just a single long ball and three RBI's. The only good news for the Mets is that nobody has been able to separate themselves in the NL east as they only find themselves one game back of the Philadelphia Phillies despite a below .500 record.

Atlanta Braves: Going along with this NL East theme the Braves, who were a game away from the World Series last year, have not caught fire so far in 2021. They started off the season 0-4 and have not been able to climb out of the hole just yet despite an MVP month by Ronald Acuna Jr., who is the first double digit home run man this season. Marcell Ozuna and Freddie Freeman have not found their form. Freeman has been especially disappointing as he is coming off winning the NL MVP award in 2020. The star 1B is hitting just .208, he does have 7 homers and 18 RBI's but we all know he's a .300 type hitter when he is at his best. There is a lot of young talent on this roster in both their lineup and the pitching rotation and as stated earlier the NL East is wide open right with no team above .500 so far. There is still time to turn things around in Atlanta.