It’s been a strange, strange first 6 weeks of the baseball season. Up is down, down is up and the Tampa Bay Rays (not Devil Rays) are seven games over .500. What else is happening? Here’s an overview of the season at the quarter pole (yes, we’re already there) with a look at which early-season trends might stick and which might fall by the wayside.
Those competitive Rays
It’s probably only a coincidence that the removal of “Devil” from the Rays’ team moniker has resulted in the first truly competitive outfit in franchise history. What’s not a coincidence is that the Rays are good just as all their young talent is arriving into its prime and that includes, for the first time in team history, a solid young pitching staff led by the often-dominant James Shields and Scott Kazmir. And since Kazmir has made only two starts this season after being sidelined by an elbow strain, you can probably expect the Rays to only get better. The lineup is pretty stocked and will only improve as youngsters like the highly touted Evan Longoria learn American League pitching. The once-maligned bullpen, led by the grizzled Troy Percival, is also improved.
One concern? Despite eight homers, last year’s out-of-nowhere A.L. home run runner-up Carlos Pena is only hitting .209 and slugging .403. His bat in the middle of that lineup is essential for the Rays to continue their early-season success. The emergence of Edwin Jackson in the starting rotation will also be a key for the Rays over the next four-plus months.
The meek shall inherit the pennant?
The Rays aren’t the only low-expectations team thriving in 2008. A quick look at the standings shows a host of squads expected to be at the bottom of their respective divisions doing very well. Minnesota, Oakland and Florida were forecast as bottom-dwellers and are instead all in first place. The reason? Well, it’s still a small sampling for one. Minnesota is only a few games over .500. Oakland and Florida have fared better, but there’s still not enough talent (or money) on either roster to hold up for a whole season. Still, it’s nice for the fans in both cities to at least feel competitive for a little while. The cream will eventually rise to the top – teams like Cleveland, Anaheim and the Mets will eventually get on a roll – but it helps the overall intrigue of a long season to have as many teams stay competitive for as long as possible.
Yankees tread water, Red Sox continue to roll
Anybody who has watched the Yankees this season without knowing the results of the games might think this team is five or six-games below .500. They’d be wrong. And though it’s no big accomplishment to be .500, the Yankees have had significant injuries to A-Rod, Posada and Jeter as well as horrible results from their two, heralded young starters (Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy). And so to be within shouting distance of the Sox after 40 games is no small feat. It is still disconcerting that with two young starters of their own in Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, the Red Sox keep chugging along and look like the clear-cut best team in baseball.
The Jekyll and Hyde Mets
The Mets just have the feel of a team that will fall short despite enough talent to win the whole darn thing. There are simply too many players either past their prime or whose play is maddeningly inconsistent. Carlos Delgado looks done. Carlos Beltran has been bad. Aaron Heilman keeps giving up late game home runs. Jose Reyes hasn’t been that good for almost a year now. Oliver Perez looks brilliant one minute and like he’s ready for the minors for the next. And Willie Randolph is managing like a guy who is afraid for his job.
It’s not that the Mets aren’t talented. But something just feels wrong with this team. It extends back to last season, even before the late season collapse. All through last year, Mets fans complained that their team looked lethargic, like the players thought it was their divine right to make the playoffs. Maybe it goes all the way back to the 2006 NLCS, when the Cardinals pulled the rug out from under the Mets, even after Endy Chavez’s epic catch. These Mets just don’t seem to have it. And if they don’t make the playoffs, Willie better start getting together his resume.
Struggling sluggers
Look at these numbers in 492 total at bats, or what amounts to nearly an entire season, as of May 12: 17 home runs, 63 RBIs and a .230 batting average. Not good, right? Those are the combined numbers of four brand-name sluggers: Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard, Travis Hafner and Vladimir Guerrero. There are five MVPs among them, by the way. Now, I know A-Rod has been hurt, but he wasn’t exactly tearing it up before he went down. As for the other guys, they’ve made A-Rod’s start look good.
Ryan Howard has been pitiful with 24 hits in his first 140 ABs. Guerrero has only 16 RBIs and 3 HRs in his first 138 ABs. Hafner is hitting a robust .211 with 3 HRs as well. What’s going on here? To some extent, this is another product of early season results that will turn around. But with Hafner, there is some cause for concern after a down year in 2007. Also, some scouts say that Ryan Howard has reverted back to some bad habits with his swing, leading to that putrid .171 average. Most likely, these hitters will get back close to their regular numbers by the end of the year. But remember, we’re already a quarter of the way in. So it’s time for these guys to kick it into gear.
Well, that’s a look at some of the things going on so far. We’ll see you for the halfway report in six more weeks.