Friends, we are now passed the one month mark of the 2015 Major League Baseball season. It literally feels like yesterday I was stoked about The Masters and the Final Four coupled with Opening Night then Opening Day.
Let me first start this piece off by saying, it way, way, way too early to be saying any one team is in trouble or any one team is the clear favorite in any spot in the standings. As of this morning (May 7), most teams have played 28 games. The White Sox are the exception because of their series that was postponed in Baltimore.
Only in the National League Central is there a 10-games or better lead between the first place team and the last place team, and frankly, it’s because the Cardinals are playing ludicrous baseball right now and the Brewers can’t get out of their own way.
So with that said, I’m not panicking on the Washington Nationals who have struggled out of the gate, I’m not panicking on the White Sox or Indians who are playing sub-par baseball to this point, and I’m definitely not ready to crown the New York Mets the victors of the National League East despite the outstanding pitching performances they’ve turned in to date.
To me, talk of “is this team in trouble” or “does this team need to make a move now?” are just silly questions.
Most hitters don’t have 100 at bats yet and most pitchers have either barely reached (if they’ve reached at all) 50 IP. I always like to see hitters reach that triple-digit at bat plateau and I like pitchers to get about 75-100 innings in before I start judging where their season is headed.
That’s mostly due to the fact you can go from a .225 average to 270 with a 4-for-5 night, and suddenly two home runs and nine RBIs can turn into 4 HR and 13 RBIs literally overnight.
So to panic on guys right now is just silly.
That said, it’s not too early to be concerned.
I am concerned about the Indians. This was a team I thought was in store for big things in 2015. I thought their pitchers made huge strides in 2014, specifically Trevor Bauer and Carlos Corrasco, I thought they were getting some guys healthy that could have a big impact, and I thought they had the prospect firepower for it to be really, a special summer in Cleveland (especially given LeBron is back).
Again, not panacing on the Tribe one bit. Carlos Corrasco has had a decent start to his season. Trevor Bauer has been stellar, and Corey Kluber has been OK.
The offense needs some guys to start stepping up, but make no mistake about it, things can, and should, turn around quickly in Cleveland soon.
While I didn’t expect them to make the playoffs, I definitely thought the Chicago White Sox would be better than they’ve been. A lot of their struggles have been at the hands of their two big arms, Jeff Samardzija and Chris Sale. At 4.38 and 5.32 respectively, Samardzija and Sale have been less than good in the first fifth of the season. But like I pointed out earlier, a couple efforts of 7 or 8 strong innings can easily manipulate those poor starts into sub-3 ERAs very quickly.
As of this morning, the Washington Nationals sit 4.5 back of the New York Mets in the East. While I’m tremendously excited about what the Mets are doing, the potential the Nationals have is beyond scary to me. Five top of the rotation starters and an unbelievably explosive offense are the combination for winning 18 of 20 in a 22 day stretch.
All the naysayers for Washington are probably loving their place in the standings, to me, their performance as a team has been pretty bad to this point and yet here they are, early May, and in excellent shape in the division.
Counting the Nationals out right now is simply foolish.
Right now, I love what three teams are doing. That’s the Mets, Astros and Cubs.
To me, these three teams were about a year away from truly being contenders in their respective divisions, and yet here they are right there in each one. Houston and New York lead theirs and the Cubs are an early surprise in the Central, just 5.5 back of the insanely hot St. Louis Cardinals.
I love the aggressiveness in which the Cubs are managing. I think it came with little surprise the Cubs waited their 12 days or whatever to call up Kris Bryant, but what did come as a shock was the Cubs bringing up prized prospect Addison Russell with limited experience at Triple-A. What’s even more surprising is the reaction from the league about those two after their Major League debuts.
Granted, each struggled but goodness, can we give them more than drip of coffee to the tongue before we start slamming them as busts and saying they were over their heads? Despite yet to hit his first big league homer, Bryant is hitting almost .300 with 13 RBIs in his first 60-plus at bats. Russell has two homers in his first 50 at bats and is more than holding his own at the plate despite 24 strikeouts.
While the Mets and Astros have been a little more conservative with their prized prospects (we have yet to see Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz or Carlos Correa), the two have used strategically strong offseason acquisitions and health to bolster a 10-game win streak and catapult themselves atop their respective divisions.
While I doubt any of these three teams finish making the playoffs, the early resiliency of their young talent has to make each fan base more than excited about what the future holds.
I hate saying this, because I feel like I’m jinxing them, but I think at this point the Mets have the best shot at a postseason appearance, simply because their pitching is the best. But make no mistake about it, Houston and Chicago will not go away, and there is more talent coming for all three, and it’ll be here before you know it.
I would address the Cardinals scorching hot start, but I mean, are any of you honestly surprised? Did you really think this team would go away after Adam Wainwright went down early on?
The best run franchise in not just baseball, but all of sports, always finds away to fill holes with guys that do nothing but produce. While I’m not a fan of them, it is unbelievable to watch.
Speaking of unbelievable to watch, is there a guy that is hitting any better than Dee Gordon to start this year? Hitting over .400 in 100-plus at bats, hits strikeouts are down and walks are up. I do not expect in the least this kid to hit .400, but if he can be a plus-.310 hitter, this lineup is going to be extremely difficult when you consider Christian Yelich is due back soon from injury and Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t hit his stride yet.
For the Cincinnati Reds, who are right up there with the Chicago Cubs near the top of the NL Central, having Joey Votto looking like his old self is an extremely huge boost for this team. Along with him, Todd Frazier and the ageless Marlon Byrd in the middle of that order are giving the Reds a huge boost despite the injuries that are hitting their pitching staff.
When, or if, Devin Mesoraco comes back to full health, the Reds could be a big surprise if they can start to get some contributions and mileage out of their pitching staff.
I’ll admit, this next subject, I’m very biased on, but I feel like the situation has been handled poorly.
It’s hard to argue with anything Donnie “Baseball” Mattingly does in LA, because his team sits in first place in a much improved National League East. With that fact recognized and very much respected, Donnie, can we get my guy Alex Guerrero some more playing.
I know there’s trade interest in him, and while his contract looks very friendly, it’s actually not. But the kid has to play more. Despite a good start, Justin Turner is in no way a regular, Juan Uribe has started to hit better but the Dodgers aren’t a big fan of his, Guerrero must get more playing time.
After a ridiculous Mike Tyson/Evander Holyfield incident in the dugout where Guerrero got his ear bit off, the guy did nothing but rake at Triple-A. A .333/.373/.621 between three levels, most Triple-A though, blasting 17 home runs on 57 RBIs.
It’s time Alex Guerrero either get a full time shot or he be traded for an opportunity he’s earned, making the Dodgers eat crow on signing him to a ridiculous set of clauses in that contract.
With five big league home runs in less than 50 at bats, Guerrero could be an all-star but the Dodgers insist on relegating him to a part-time role with inferior talents such as Uribe, Turner and Scott Van Slyke.
Another guy that has been terrific that has come out of no where is Odubel Herrera. A Rule 5 draftee of the Phillies, Hererra had never played above Double-A, and yet has become a catalyst in the Phillies lineup. While an aggressive hitter, Hererra displays a good deal of understanding of the strike zone and if he can continue his success, should be a mainstay atop the Phillies lineup.
Between brawls, surprise performances, prospects and more, the first month of this baseball season is showing us the next five months are going to be nothing short of spectacular.
Don’t take your eyes off the ball for two seconds or you’ll miss some great stuff this year!
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