Bullet-Point Takes on MLB’s First Month
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One month in the books (Side-note: how many people actually still know how to score a baseball game? Like, in a book.) and the early standout of the season is…the weather! There have been a record number of postponements and cancellations, not including all the rain delays and games played in overtly crappy weather. The 28 cancellations as of April 24th eclipsed the old record set in 2007, and has only grown since. Between rain, snow, frigid temps, and shoddy construction (c’mon Blue Jays, weather delay in a dome, really??!) the Major League Baseball season feels like it’s barely started.
Alas, here’s a one-two sentence synopsis of what HAS happened this first month based on the games that teams HAVE been able to play thus far. Check out the AL version here.
NL EAST
- Atlanta Braves: Young is definitely a theme in the NL East…Freddie Freeman continues to do his thing, but now he has young second baseman Ozzie Albies and the recently called up top prospect Ronald Acuna tearing it up beside him. A Braves lineup featuring Ronald Acuna (Matata) “means no worries for the rest of Atlanta’s days…”
- Miami Marlins: A wise woman once told me “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.” (Mom) But hey, at least with them around the Nats aren’t stuck being last, which is nice.
- New York Mets: Mickey Calloway has been magic for this team, off to a much better start than last year. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are back to their status as co-aces, Yoenis Cespedes is playing with renewed energy…now they just have to figure out what to do with Matt Harvey. Doesn’t look like that “Dark Knight’s” rising any time soon….
- Philadelphia Phillies: Looks like 2019 came early for Philly fans. Behind Rhys Hoskins and some strong solid pitching, what was supposed to be a young team playing through a “growth year” has been surprisingly competitive in the NL East. But didn’t they just get the Super Bowl down there…?
- Washington Nationals: Well this is unexpected…universally picked to run away with the Division, Washington is sucking wind down at the bottom of the standings. They do still have Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg as a strong 1-2- which may as well be a video game cheat code- but unless Bryce Harper starts getting some support in the lineup, they could be headed for a National Disaster.
NL CENTRAL
- Cincinnati Reds: Bye, bye Bryan Price; hello Jim Riggleman. Now, they just need better players…
- Chicago Cubs: An offense led by Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant can’t be this bad all year… It looks like Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana may be turning things around with the pitching, now lets see if Chicago can keep the momentum going. If not, looks an awful lot like this could be “Royals 2.0.”
- Louis Cardinals: Could Carlos Martinez be on his way to becoming the ace St. Louie expected him to be? With him and Tommy Pham heading up the offense, the Cardinals could be dangerous if they get their bullpen right.
- Pittsburgh Pirates: So they trade away two of their best players- outfielder Andrew McCutchen and starting pitcher Gerrit Cole– and somehow get off to a better start this year? Well, that’s baseball for ya.
- Milwaukee Brewers: Reliever Josh Hader is pitching like Andrew Miller on steroids…ooo, maybe poor choice of wording…. Unfortunately they can’t seem to beat the Cubbies. When you’re 1-7 against a division rival, that’s a problem, no matter how creative the bullpen.
NL WEST
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Snuck up on the division just like the snakes that they are! Winning every series so far, the DBacks starters have been terrific, although with Robbie Ray’s injury, keeping the streak alive could get tricky.
- Colorado Rockies: Offense is not supposed to be the problem up in Colorado. Unless they get those bats straightened out, it doesn’t look like a Wild Card’s in the picture again this year.
- Los Angeles Dodgers: When it rains, it pours- even in California. With the loss of Corey Seager for the year to Tommy John surgery and a majority of their roster either on the DL or underperforming, Clayton Kershaw’s gonna have to do some heavy lifting to keep his club in it.
- San Francisco Giants: Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen…these guys would’ve been great in the early 2000’s. Aging roster and no Madison Bumgarner in the rotation is not the way to win a division.
- San Diego Padres: Remember when Wil Myers was supposed to be the second-coming? Yea, me neither. Just more proof you can never really know who wins a trade in the moment. Royals trading Myers to Tampa generated more hot takes than a certain Prez on Twitter, and only now can we start to fully evaluate. Royals got a World Series…Rays got Myers great 2013 Rookie of the Year Season, and the Padres have…sunshine?.
-John Collins
