The first month of the season is done! The Brewers are awful, the Astros are great, Stephen Strasburg is super hittable, and Jon Lester can’t throw to a base. Its been an odd one. Lets see how it all shakes out.
- New York Mets- Matt Harvey has been his old self and even though David Wright is hurt and Curtis Granderson hasn’t shown much pop, the Mets have surged to an MLB best 15 wins, including 11 straight at one point.
- Kansas City Royals- the defending AL champs have gotten off to a great start, matching New York’s 15 victories behind an unbelievable first month from Mike Moustakas.
- Los Angeles Dodgers- Clayton Kershaw certainly hasn’t hit his stride yet but the Dodgers’ offense has been among the best in the league. They’ll be up here in every ranking.
- St. Louis Cardinals- Matt Carpenter is on pace for over 100 doubles. The guy hits everything in sight. They might be in trouble without Adam Wainwright all season but if any team has the starting depth to compensate, its STL.
- Detroit Tigers- David Price has been great as a Miguel Cabrera and if Yoenis Cespedes can hit consistently and Justin Verlander can get on the mound, watch out.
- Houston Astros- Jose Altuve has gotten off to a great start as has Dallas Kuechel and the starting staff. They lead a pedestrian AL West so far.
- Chicago Cubs- The Cubbies now have the team assembled. Kris Bryant is killing it, though not hitting for power and Addison Russell is getting his shot. They’ll challenge the Cards for at least most of the summer.
- Boston Red Sox- All our greatest desires were realized with the Red Sox’ offense. But all our worst fear came true with their pitching staff.
- New York Yankees- CC Sabathia has no wins but hasn’t been awful. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Texeira have been better than expected, but still not great. Losing Masahiro Tanaka hurts.
- Los Angeles Angels- Now that Garret Richards is back we can see if the Angels can repeat last season’s successes. Mike Trout has been as good as ever.
- Pittsburgh Pirates- Gregory Polanco has been picking it up of late until a recent injury. The Pirates are just 20th in runs though.
- Tampa Bay Rays- Just 22nd in runs but the pitching has been lights out, led by Chris Archer who has lived up to his billing as the AL East’s best arm.
- Colorado Rockies- Troy Tulowitzki has been healthy and hitting like it. They’re opening sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee looks worse now that we know what the Brewers are though.
- Baltimore Orioles- Ubaldo Jimenez hasn’t been so bad. Chris Tillman has struggled. Its nice to see some production out of Chris David and Adam Jones though.
- Washington Nationals- The disappointment of the 1st month. The Nats can’t seem to string anything together. Though they’ve finally won 3 straight. This keeps up much longer and Matt Williams might be out of a job.
- Toronto Blue Jays- The most prolific offense in all of baseball through the first month is a great candidate to make a trade for both starting and bullpen help sooner rather than later.
- Miami Marlins- Dee Gordon has been a great surprise. Mike Morse and Mat Latos haven’t. Jose Fernandez in the way back and that’s good but they’re clearly third best in the East.
- Seattle Marniers- Nelson Cruz has been one of the best new pickups so far and Felix has been Felix. Robinson Cano has gotten off to a slow start but he’ll pick it up and so with the Mariners.
- San Diego Padres- Matt Kemp seems semi- rejuvenated and Andrew Cashner has been great at home but Wil Meyers isn’t a center fielder. His .286 average is an improvement though.
- Cincinnati Reds- Losing Homer Bailey for the year won’t help. Neither will a manager who seems clearly overmatched by his job.
- San Fransisco Giants- The reigning champs are 9-13 and in last place behind even the Dbacks. They’re third to last in baseball in runs scored.
- Chicago White Sox- Jeff Samardzija hasn’t been great and even Chris Sale got roughed up once. Jose Abreu is as good as ever though.
- Cleveland Indians- The Indians aren’t as bad as their 7-14 record but they might be digging themselves too big a hole in a really good division.
- Oakland A’s – the pitching hasn’t been good, Tyler Clippard has only 1 save. But the offense has been 5th best in baseball so far.
- Atlanta Braves- The pitching has been as good as expected except for Trevor Cahill who has been a disaster. The offense has been surprisingly good but I don’t think its sustainable.
- Texas Rangers- Prince has been alright. Choo has been a disaster. Maybe Josh Hamilton will help in a couple weeks.
- Arizona Diamondbacks- Paul Goldschmidt has gotten off to a good start but they have no starting pitching and its hurt.
- Minnesota Twins- In an era of increased strikeouts and pitcher performance, the twins can’t get either. That’s a bad bad omen.
- Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies aren’t last! More of the Brewers ineptitude than their aptitude though. Chase Utley might be done.
- Milwaukee Brewers- They have good players but can’t put anything together. Their 5 wins and 17 losses make them the worst team in the sport.
-Max Frankel
