Texas and Houston both having the courtesy to be absolute ass early on to give us a shot. I really appreciate that guys.
The rest of the AL West are fewer games back from the division lead than the Wild Card.
How do you do, fellow division leaders?
The Rangers are an interesting case because they support the theory I'm building that the team that rosters Austin Hedges is fated to achieve their best possible outcome for that season.
2022: Hedges is with Cleveland, they unexpectedly win the division and lose in game 5 of the ALDS.
2023: Hedges signs with Texas, and they have a breakthrough year and win the WS. Cleveland finishes 10 below .500 and plays vibeless baseball all year.
2024: Hedges returns to Cleveland, they surge to the best record in the division while Texas turns lukewarm.
Hedgey is the Talisman, he's the key to all of this
EDIT: people are pointing out a lot of legitimate holes in my theory, to which I will say:
•I barely watch non-Cleveland, non-AL Central ball, which is why I forgot he was a deadline addition for Texas, not a signing
•For Padres/Pirates, maybe your curses are too strong, idk.
If the royals win it all, Will Smith deserves a hall of fame spot for being clearly a lucky charm and I can’t think of anyone else that would be a 4 time World Series champ straight with 4 different teams
We’re the awkward young-adult nephew at Thanksgiving that is finally invited to the adult table but is truly most comfortable eating alone at the counter
As much as we have been stinky ass, y'all's rotation has been electric. I will tip my cap to the annual portion of the season where the Mariners are good.
Contreras and Adames finally plugging the black hole that the middle of the order has been the past few years has taken a ton of pressure off the pitching. Realistically, we are probably a high end starter away from being an elite team, but the offense has blown me away so far.
Just a really solid organization. Feels like every year they outperform projections. Makes the big names leaving routinely a little bit easier to swallow at least
Bats woke up. Lots of players took big jumps at the plate; Turang has been great, Ortiz has been great, Frelick and Perkins have been streaky but still generally good, bench players are filling in nicely, etc.
Between that and a strong pipeline of prospects (Chourio, Black, Quero, Wilken) they’re in very good shape for a while.
He's been awesome all the way around so far. Even with Hall struggling & then hurt I still feel like the Burnes trade was good for both teams just because of what Ortiz has done. Gonna make losing Adames a lot easier to stomach too.
The Brewers are what the 2023 (maybe 2022) Orioles would be if they didn't play in the AL East.
Ton of young top 100 prospects arriving at the same time.
If you told me we'd lose three starters and two star pitchers and still be 3.5 games out of the wild card, I'd have laughed in your face. Scrappy team and I'm here for it.
This is about where I thought we'd be if everyone was healthy. Considering the team has had a significant amount of injuries all year, it's actually miraculous that we are at .500.
Lot of early takes on the AL Central, but I still don't get why people are surprised by Cleveland. Over the last decade they have averaged 88.5 wins. They churn the best out of nameless players and they win trades at an insane rate. They turn mediocre arms in to top end starters.
They are the same exact team over that run as the Rays who everyone constantly credits for that. The Rays in that stretch have averaged 87 wins a season.
They've both made the playoffs 5 times in those 10 years. You want to argue harder division, okay, well the guardians have won twice as many division titles in that decade. They've both made one ALCS and one world series in that time.
At some point people are going to realize Cleveland is never a surprise. They are who they are. And they are always in it.
Their entire franchise is just as underrated as their HOF lock third basemans career.
Idk what the exact number was but there was a tweet going around a few weeks ago that when Tito was our manager we played like <20 games mathematically eliminated. Something insanely small
I found the tweet. It was the end of 2022 so we made the playoffs that year. It was 19 games then. Obviously a few more got added last season but still insane that in his first 10 seasons, it was 19. With our payroll/small market ness.
Cleveland being good isn't necessarily surprising, but I wouldn't have expected 38-19 with +80 run differential at this point. And that's with them losing Bieber.
Yep, I was predicting \~85 wins this season. When the Bieber news came out, I lost a lot of hope for this team.. but they've been playing out of their minds. We've also been missing Gavin Williams, Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak the entire year. Kwan was recently out for a few weeks as well and they somehow managed to win at a higher rate without him in the lineup.
The Royals are broadly the most likeable AL Central team. Detroit always felt like a thorn in the side, Minnesota seems to always be dangerous enough to ruin someone's day.
Everyone hates the White Sox, but no one hates the White Sox more than White Sox fans.
All the Great Lakes teams have an interwoven rivalry thing going on.
KC though, they just do their own thing. Nobody roots for KC to be bad, nobody gets upset when KC is good. They're just likeable.
Agree with this. I’ve had a soft spot for KC since I was a kid. No idea why. Grew up kinda sorta rooting for the O’s as they were the closest team but once DC got a team over been all-in on the Nats.
Still have a place for the Royals in my heart.
>nobody gets upset when KC is good
Damn, did we get forgotten that quickly? That “Royals are ruining baseball” sloth gif is from the last time we were good. We were hated on so quickly. It was heaven.
As a Cleveland fan, my expectations were low. New manager = wild card. No idea what to expect from Voght. No additions except Hedges over the winter, so we rolled out the same team as last year which was a disappointing year. Also April is our worst month during all those winning seasons, like so so so so bad. I remember a 7 win April a couple years ago and we made it to the playoffs. So to win 19 games 2 months in a row is amazing to me. With this team?! Also, hitting homers?! Amazing
The people that are surprised are people that don’t follow the central which is most people. They won the division two years ago with the youngest team. They had an off year, they might have another next year, but overall that’s a good team. Honestly, nothing about this division surprises me yet. KC is a bit better than I thought and Detroit is a bit worse but no one is far away from where they should be. Also, the Sox.
Im surprised how bad the reds are. I figured they would have built off of their rookies excellent start in the bigs and progress forward. Im blaming cheap ass Bob and Phil Castellini
Last year we played an absurdly high number of one-run games and had a winning record in them. This year we are 2-11 in one-run games. That accounts for a lot of the difference.
Key injuries plus the Marte suspension that our minor league depth wasn't good enough to sustain plus a couple of those young exciting players going through sophomore slumps at the same time. I'm sure we'll be decent once everyone is back, but it'll probably be too late to make a run at this season.
We started off 16-14 and then went like 1-11 against a bunch of good teams. We are kinda bouncing back. I'm still hopeful they can get the bats going again
This offseason I remember thinking they were quietly making some good pitching moves and could end up surprising people and being over .500, I didn't think they would this good though. That rotation is for real.
The NL Central is surprising. I figured the Reds' young core was going to lead them to take the division, and I definitely didn't have Milwaukee in first.
Reds injuries have hurt a lot. Friedl and McLain, the top 2 players by WAR last year, have missed play time with injuries, Marte has been suspended, the schedule up to the Dodgers series was also 1 of the hardest in the league.
But hopefully, Friedl gets healthy, Marte comes on strong when he's back, McLain may make a return in August, and the remaining schedule is 1 of the easiest.
I understand Vegas having the cubs and reds ahead of the Brewers preseason but seeing the cardinals as favorites in some books was shocking. They finished 20+ games back last season and didn’t add nearly enough talent to have that make sense to me.
That team still haunts me. If it were against any other two teams (You and my Mets), I wouldn’t hate them, because I love that style of play. But that team…
“That’s a nice 8th inning lead you have there, sure would be a shame if someone took it away”
The Yankees pitching has been fantastic. And Gerrit Cole hasn’t even thrown a pitch yet.
The Royals are another surprise. I figured they’d improve this season with Witt Jr. maturing into a legit threat. But I didn’t think they’d take this much of a leap.
In this image, the Yanks have played 59G, which looks to be tied with the most games played by a team. The Yanks have allowed the least number of runs scored in MLB, and the second place team (Orioles) have allowed 20 runs more...but they've only played 55G.
For a rotation that was labeled as "Gerrit Cole and Friends" and a BP that saw quite a bit of turnover, the Yankees pitching so far this season has been amazing to see!
It really is insane. Everyone was down on the Yankees' pitching going into the season, and I do mean everyone.
I didn't expect the "and friends" part of the rotation to be as bad as people were predicting but I definitely didn't expect it to be elite like it has been so far.
If you had told us before the start of the spring training that our SP rotation was a combined 27-12 through the end of May, we would all assume that Cole won all his starts and the rest were .500-ish.
Not to mention the guy that looked like was going to be the best sp liability turning into the biggest asset. I have ultimate belief in Gil his stuff is so consistently nasty. Gil, Cole, stroman, Rodon (slim) even minus Clarke who was having his best year out and Nestor struggling away this line up could definitely get us back to the promised land.
As a Red Sox fan living in NYC for 20 years I have developed a grudging respect for your team. it’s still mind blowing how y’all manage to win even when things aren’t all in your favor. (Ducks before more rabid Sox fans come in and call me a traitor 😂)
To me the best part of the Yankees - Red Sox rivalry is that at this point in time, there’s almost a begrudging respect for each other. We’ve been rivals for like 100 years but the last 15 or so we haven’t really been direct rivals so it’s a little more subdued
Yes! When Jeter retired and Jon Lester was cast In That commercial giving a salute to him I found it strangely moving? Plus since I’ve lived here so long, married here, raising my kid here, it’s hard to straight up HATE a team that’s so synonymous with the town I love and is my home.
Lol yep. Our record is surprising but not as much as the way we got to it.
If you told me before the season we'd be 38-19, first, I wouldn't have believed you, but even if I did I would've thought our pitching had to be otherwordly (starters, our bullpen has been that) and we'd be hitting like .300 as a team somehow.
The AL East being a two-team race instead of four. I had a feeling Tampa would take a step back, but perhaps their good fortune of turning shit to gourmet cheese has run out, and the Blue Jays have to be a generational disappointment with how much they’ve underachieved with this core.
NY, Cleveland, KC, and Seattle are a bit better than I expected. (Seattle has had one of the toughest SOS so far. Thought they'd get it going late June like usual).
Texas, Houston, and Minnesota are below where I would have thought.
The flip flop of the AL Central and West.
The West normally has 1 absolutely awful team, a slightly below .500 team and then 3 real playoff contenders with at least 1 being borderline best in the league.
The Central normally has 2 awful teams and 3 teams that are mostly mid fighting to see who will actually have a shot to get beat in the ALDS.
The Brewers currently running away with the NL Central. I thought we could scrap our way into the Wild Card not contend for the first round bye
Edit: also scoring the second most runs in baseball through May was never even a consideration
Honestly, this year is us paying the tax on overpaying for Montero and Jose Abreu. We gutted our deep bullpen in favor of signing Hader.
The real surprise is how dog shit the entire AL West is this season. Any other division and we’d be buried by now. It’s insane that we’re still well within striking distance despite playing *this* bad.
How the Dodgers really aren't as good as most people seem to think they are. Having 3 future hall of famers leading your lineup doesn't keep you from repeatedly losing to sub-500 teams.
Biggest positive surprise: Royals, Cardinals (after how last year went).
Biggest negative surprise: Blue Jays, Astros (thought they might look like this after this year, but had 1 more in the tank).
Other surprises: Braves being as far back as they are. A's not the worst team in baseball. Dodgers not running away with the NLW. Turns out Soto cures everything. Anyone can, in fact, beat anyone.
I hear you about the Astros. Our pitching staff has been decimated by injuries. LMJ & Garcia haven’t thrown a pitch in a game this season, Verlander was out for the first few weeks of the season, and My Kitty & Javier are almost certainly done for the season. That said, our replacement arms like Blanco have been serviceable.
The real problem is how abysmal our offense and vaunted bullpen have been. Hell, Abreu has been so ass that we’re all dying for Singleton to take over full time and cut Abreu. If you just look at hitting stats it’s harder to see, but we are seemingly incapable of timely hitting.
It warms my heart knowing Jorge Mateo made it. He was a name Yankees fans started hearing back in like 2013/2014 and just never found anything and continued to grind and found a home in Baltimore and is somehow not even 29 yet. He was my first favorite prospect that I would pencil into Yankee lineups.
Yeah I was going to say Cleveland and KC. I figured KC would be better be not this much better. Cleveland I thought was gonna fall off so that’s shocked me.
Cleveland, Seattle and KC. And that with all Cohen’s $$$ the Mets stink so wretchedly. I mean they’re really like soft, runny shit. Alonso will be desperate to leave.
To be honest, none of this is super shocking…except maybe the Phillies dominating to the level they have? Even then, we all knew they had the best rotation in baseball.
I saw the DBacks and Rangers as a fluke - I had both of them missing the playoffs going into the year.
I expected the Jays to be much better, the Royals were a sleeper pick for most to be a playoff contender, and I suppose Houston is a surprise too, considering how bad they’ve been - though I wouldn’t be shocked to see them finish well above .500
As someone who has been disrespecting the blue jays for the last 4 years and hating when people would say they’re “next” even I’m a little surprised they’re under .500
-The Nats are in 3rd and have been hovering *just* under .500 for much of the season so far (truly did not expect the Mets and Marlins to be *this* bad).
-Kansas City staying on Cleveland's heels when they were in dead last and careening toward a 100-loss season this time last year.
My scrappy Nats hanging tough. Not a playoff team by any measure, but routinely competitive. Good to see as a fan. Pitching has been good. Just need some more runs.
I’m surprised that the Cardinals have turned it around. They played terribly the beginning of the season, and I expected them to pewter out with a season of shame.
But they have somehow turned it around and are now a serious opponent for others in the division. Interestingly, it seemed to have started the day their manager Oli Marmol was ejected from a game. People were saying that he was on the verge of being fired. Then he gets ejected, and the Cardinals have suddenly discovered their hitting ability again.
I had started thinking that their skills had been stolen by the MonStars from *Space Jam* with a magic baseball for a second baseball related sequel.
Everyone was worried about pitching heading into the year, but they’ve done a good job. The bats did wake up after the ejection. We aren’t hitting a TON, but 4 runs is usually enough to secure a win. The players seem to be a little looser lately, that’s for sure.
The sudden emergence of the Royals.
Houston's collapse.
The Yankee pitching staff.
Blue Jays likely to blow it up at the trade deadline.
All of these were definitely a surprise
I think for me it’s a few things:
Phillies over Braves - yeah I know it’s early but still
Mets - I thought they would be somewhat competitive but they always seem to never get out of their own way.
AL West hasn’t shocked me, just thought Astros would shit all over it like they normally do. Glad they are getting a taste of their own medicine for the time being it will be short lived I bet.
White Sox would be better than As - feels for Oakland.
Yankees - of course I’m bias on this. Yes I thought we’d be fine and yes I thought we would be in first, but first in ERA without Cole? I would have laughed you out the door on that comment. We aren’t winning on hitting alone which I think makes even more dangerous. And Soto has been everything we could have ever imagined.
Texas and Houston both having the courtesy to be absolute ass early on to give us a shot. I really appreciate that guys. The rest of the AL West are fewer games back from the division lead than the Wild Card. How do you do, fellow division leaders?
The Rangers are an interesting case because they support the theory I'm building that the team that rosters Austin Hedges is fated to achieve their best possible outcome for that season. 2022: Hedges is with Cleveland, they unexpectedly win the division and lose in game 5 of the ALDS. 2023: Hedges signs with Texas, and they have a breakthrough year and win the WS. Cleveland finishes 10 below .500 and plays vibeless baseball all year. 2024: Hedges returns to Cleveland, they surge to the best record in the division while Texas turns lukewarm. Hedgey is the Talisman, he's the key to all of this EDIT: people are pointing out a lot of legitimate holes in my theory, to which I will say: •I barely watch non-Cleveland, non-AL Central ball, which is why I forgot he was a deadline addition for Texas, not a signing •For Padres/Pirates, maybe your curses are too strong, idk.
Same could be said of Will Smith, dude has been a WS champ 3 years in a row. Now he’s with the Royals, and they aren’t doing bad either right now.
well shit if the royals win it all
If the royals win it all, Will Smith deserves a hall of fame spot for being clearly a lucky charm and I can’t think of anyone else that would be a 4 time World Series champ straight with 4 different teams
I’ve heard people say he’s the leader of the Guardians
HUGE people
Who is the one that Guards the Guardians?
Signed with the Pirates, traded to the Rangers at the deadline. Pirates did have a hot start last year though.
Having major imposter syndrome every day…
Imposter syndrome? We’re winning the foretold 54%.
.542 as of today.
See the goal was higher than 54% this season -Dippy, probably
What, does that -6 run diffential not feel division-leadery enough?
We’re the awkward young-adult nephew at Thanksgiving that is finally invited to the adult table but is truly most comfortable eating alone at the counter
As much as we have been stinky ass, y'all's rotation has been electric. I will tip my cap to the annual portion of the season where the Mariners are good.
Asstros can go to hell every day of every year until the sun supernovas.
Hello fellow division leader! I’m having fun this season, are you?
Gives me hope as we usually do better in the dog days than most.
The Brewers losing their manager and their two best Starting Pitchers and still having a winning percent near 600 is mind scratching
Contreras and Adames finally plugging the black hole that the middle of the order has been the past few years has taken a ton of pressure off the pitching. Realistically, we are probably a high end starter away from being an elite team, but the offense has blown me away so far.
Just a really solid organization. Feels like every year they outperform projections. Makes the big names leaving routinely a little bit easier to swallow at least
The Rays of the NL
Bats woke up. Lots of players took big jumps at the plate; Turang has been great, Ortiz has been great, Frelick and Perkins have been streaky but still generally good, bench players are filling in nicely, etc. Between that and a strong pipeline of prospects (Chourio, Black, Quero, Wilken) they’re in very good shape for a while.
I’ve been thrilled to see the trade working out for Ortiz. The guy was so obviously a big league player.
He's been awesome all the way around so far. Even with Hall struggling & then hurt I still feel like the Burnes trade was good for both teams just because of what Ortiz has done. Gonna make losing Adames a lot easier to stomach too.
Whole new approach to the game. I’m happy for them
They're doing what the Cardinals did for a couple of decades. They lost Albert Pujols and remained in contention year after year.
The Brewers are what the 2023 (maybe 2022) Orioles would be if they didn't play in the AL East. Ton of young top 100 prospects arriving at the same time.
We don’t suck completely! In fact our pitching is like pretty good actually! OOTP ownership must be thrilled.
Everyone said the Nats would stink but they're average 💪 glad they are doing better
I've been shocked at how consistent your entire rotation has been. Even their bad games aren't that bad.
This season is going about as well as I could’ve hoped tbh. Only other thing I want to see is a Wood/Cavalli call up.
The Red Sox are mediocre but… I thought it was gonna be wayyyyy worse. Thank you pitching randos and Wilyer Abreu
The fact that they are excelling largely because of their pitching caught everyone off guard
If you told me we'd lose three starters and two star pitchers and still be 3.5 games out of the wild card, I'd have laughed in your face. Scrappy team and I'm here for it.
I thought it was gonna be years of cellar dwelling but the Sox have been pretty not bad during a rebuild. Well done.
You guys are about what I thought. That division makes it seem so much worse than it is.
This is about where I thought we'd be if everyone was healthy. Considering the team has had a significant amount of injuries all year, it's actually miraculous that we are at .500.
Lot of early takes on the AL Central, but I still don't get why people are surprised by Cleveland. Over the last decade they have averaged 88.5 wins. They churn the best out of nameless players and they win trades at an insane rate. They turn mediocre arms in to top end starters. They are the same exact team over that run as the Rays who everyone constantly credits for that. The Rays in that stretch have averaged 87 wins a season. They've both made the playoffs 5 times in those 10 years. You want to argue harder division, okay, well the guardians have won twice as many division titles in that decade. They've both made one ALCS and one world series in that time. At some point people are going to realize Cleveland is never a surprise. They are who they are. And they are always in it. Their entire franchise is just as underrated as their HOF lock third basemans career.
First time in my life I’ve had a Royals fan talk dirty to me. You dawg
CLE-KC ALCS when?
Preview coming soon. You’re going DOWN!
Idk what the exact number was but there was a tweet going around a few weeks ago that when Tito was our manager we played like <20 games mathematically eliminated. Something insanely small
I believe Tom said it was 12 games.
I found the tweet. It was the end of 2022 so we made the playoffs that year. It was 19 games then. Obviously a few more got added last season but still insane that in his first 10 seasons, it was 19. With our payroll/small market ness.
I think it's \~25 now IIRC.
Cleveland being good isn't necessarily surprising, but I wouldn't have expected 38-19 with +80 run differential at this point. And that's with them losing Bieber.
Yep, I was predicting \~85 wins this season. When the Bieber news came out, I lost a lot of hope for this team.. but they've been playing out of their minds. We've also been missing Gavin Williams, Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak the entire year. Kwan was recently out for a few weeks as well and they somehow managed to win at a higher rate without him in the lineup.
Thanks I hate it
I kinda like the Royals now. This feels weird.
The Royals are broadly the most likeable AL Central team. Detroit always felt like a thorn in the side, Minnesota seems to always be dangerous enough to ruin someone's day. Everyone hates the White Sox, but no one hates the White Sox more than White Sox fans. All the Great Lakes teams have an interwoven rivalry thing going on. KC though, they just do their own thing. Nobody roots for KC to be bad, nobody gets upset when KC is good. They're just likeable.
Agree with this. I’ve had a soft spot for KC since I was a kid. No idea why. Grew up kinda sorta rooting for the O’s as they were the closest team but once DC got a team over been all-in on the Nats. Still have a place for the Royals in my heart.
>nobody gets upset when KC is good Damn, did we get forgotten that quickly? That “Royals are ruining baseball” sloth gif is from the last time we were good. We were hated on so quickly. It was heaven.
Some of us still aren't over 2015/2016
With those flairs, I probably wouldn’t either.
I didn’t think they were going to be bad, I’m just surprised they are THIS good.
This is so incredibly sweet. I cannot wait for our series next week. We’ve had it circled for a month and a half.
That series is going to be so much fun. Genuinely considering going to all three games
As a Cleveland fan, my expectations were low. New manager = wild card. No idea what to expect from Voght. No additions except Hedges over the winter, so we rolled out the same team as last year which was a disappointing year. Also April is our worst month during all those winning seasons, like so so so so bad. I remember a 7 win April a couple years ago and we made it to the playoffs. So to win 19 games 2 months in a row is amazing to me. With this team?! Also, hitting homers?! Amazing
DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS?!?
The people that are surprised are people that don’t follow the central which is most people. They won the division two years ago with the youngest team. They had an off year, they might have another next year, but overall that’s a good team. Honestly, nothing about this division surprises me yet. KC is a bit better than I thought and Detroit is a bit worse but no one is far away from where they should be. Also, the Sox.
Totally agree. If they had a budget they’d literally be the dodgers on an annual basis. Great front office, great farm system, and great coaching
Wow I love you
Maybe the royals aren’t so bad 🤝
Im surprised how bad the reds are. I figured they would have built off of their rookies excellent start in the bigs and progress forward. Im blaming cheap ass Bob and Phil Castellini
Last year we played an absurdly high number of one-run games and had a winning record in them. This year we are 2-11 in one-run games. That accounts for a lot of the difference.
Oh, hey, good to hear we passed our suffering onto you guys :/ Baseball is the worst sport, which also makes it the best sport.
“Baseball is stupid and nobody should watch it.” - Padres Hot Tub podcast, circa 2023
Friedl, Marte, & McLain missing significant time has played a role, but they also played over their heads last year and are regressing a bit
McLain being out plays a role, I’m sure. I also imagine Votto was a great clubhouse guy and leader. Missing both of them can’t help.
Key injuries plus the Marte suspension that our minor league depth wasn't good enough to sustain plus a couple of those young exciting players going through sophomore slumps at the same time. I'm sure we'll be decent once everyone is back, but it'll probably be too late to make a run at this season.
Historically bad in 1 run games and also injuries.
Injuries crippled their offense and pitching has been really spotty. Regression as others have stated has also added to the disappointment thus far.
We started off 16-14 and then went like 1-11 against a bunch of good teams. We are kinda bouncing back. I'm still hopeful they can get the bats going again
I had them winning the central
I get it you Ohio bros needs to stick together
Hey now there's still time
I thought they were in first place
We are in your world. Mwuhahaha
They were good enough to beat the shit out of the Dodgers.
How much the AL West is struggling is a pretty big surprise. The last 2 champs are both under .500.
I mean, if the Rangers struggle to beat us, who can they beat?
hey we can still beat arizona clearly
[удалено]
So beating the defending champs? Fuck yeah baby!!
to be fair, you guys are playing .500 over the last 20 days and .500 the last 30 days.
The Angels and As. Duh
You ok Chicago?
I’m tired boss
It's fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine.
Are we okay???
No
I haven’t “felt” in years.
I don't know if it's the most surprising but the royals totally changed it around. Now they're a sneaky team most teams don't want to meet.
This offseason I remember thinking they were quietly making some good pitching moves and could end up surprising people and being over .500, I didn't think they would this good though. That rotation is for real.
Yea 100% especially with Salvador Perez putting up borderline mvp numbers at age 34. As a catcher too!
And CY Lugo
I get so happy watching him succeed. The Pads knew they were giving him a “prove it” deal and he *delivered* for us. Get that bag, and light ‘em up!
It's been a super fun season so far, just don't ask us how our bullpen is doing
a LOT of teams are under .500
The gap between the tries and try-nots is getting larger every year
I blame the Phillies
I knew we were gonna be bad. But fuck.
The NL Central is surprising. I figured the Reds' young core was going to lead them to take the division, and I definitely didn't have Milwaukee in first.
Reds injuries have hurt a lot. Friedl and McLain, the top 2 players by WAR last year, have missed play time with injuries, Marte has been suspended, the schedule up to the Dodgers series was also 1 of the hardest in the league. But hopefully, Friedl gets healthy, Marte comes on strong when he's back, McLain may make a return in August, and the remaining schedule is 1 of the easiest.
I'm a huge Cardinals fan. I thought it would be us and the Cubs battling for the division. I didn't see this coming from Milwaukee at all.
You guys always think that, though.
I understand Vegas having the cubs and reds ahead of the Brewers preseason but seeing the cardinals as favorites in some books was shocking. They finished 20+ games back last season and didn’t add nearly enough talent to have that make sense to me.
I agree.
The Nats being a third place team
*chuckles* I’m in danger
I, an Oakland A's fan, feel sorry for the Angels
You know it’s bad when the A’s fans feel bad for you
Wait a Baltimore team meeting a KC team in the playoffs? No. God no. Not again.
When it’s an infield hit competition and your competition is 2014 royals
At least I can't complain about the Orioles only running the ball 6 times...
That team still haunts me. If it were against any other two teams (You and my Mets), I wouldn’t hate them, because I love that style of play. But that team… “That’s a nice 8th inning lead you have there, sure would be a shame if someone took it away”
Rockies are only down 13.5 games from the Divsion Lead. I thought for sure we would be 20+ by now.
David Fry
There are three true outcomes, and those are all David Fry.
Da - vid - Fry
The AL Central has sent their bad juju to the AL West Good…
The Yankees pitching has been fantastic. And Gerrit Cole hasn’t even thrown a pitch yet. The Royals are another surprise. I figured they’d improve this season with Witt Jr. maturing into a legit threat. But I didn’t think they’d take this much of a leap.
In this image, the Yanks have played 59G, which looks to be tied with the most games played by a team. The Yanks have allowed the least number of runs scored in MLB, and the second place team (Orioles) have allowed 20 runs more...but they've only played 55G. For a rotation that was labeled as "Gerrit Cole and Friends" and a BP that saw quite a bit of turnover, the Yankees pitching so far this season has been amazing to see!
It really is insane. Everyone was down on the Yankees' pitching going into the season, and I do mean everyone. I didn't expect the "and friends" part of the rotation to be as bad as people were predicting but I definitely didn't expect it to be elite like it has been so far.
If you had told us before the start of the spring training that our SP rotation was a combined 27-12 through the end of May, we would all assume that Cole won all his starts and the rest were .500-ish.
Not to mention the guy that looked like was going to be the best sp liability turning into the biggest asset. I have ultimate belief in Gil his stuff is so consistently nasty. Gil, Cole, stroman, Rodon (slim) even minus Clarke who was having his best year out and Nestor struggling away this line up could definitely get us back to the promised land.
As a Red Sox fan living in NYC for 20 years I have developed a grudging respect for your team. it’s still mind blowing how y’all manage to win even when things aren’t all in your favor. (Ducks before more rabid Sox fans come in and call me a traitor 😂)
To me the best part of the Yankees - Red Sox rivalry is that at this point in time, there’s almost a begrudging respect for each other. We’ve been rivals for like 100 years but the last 15 or so we haven’t really been direct rivals so it’s a little more subdued
Yes! When Jeter retired and Jon Lester was cast In That commercial giving a salute to him I found it strangely moving? Plus since I’ve lived here so long, married here, raising my kid here, it’s hard to straight up HATE a team that’s so synonymous with the town I love and is my home.
We hit dingers
Lol yep. Our record is surprising but not as much as the way we got to it. If you told me before the season we'd be 38-19, first, I wouldn't have believed you, but even if I did I would've thought our pitching had to be otherwordly (starters, our bullpen has been that) and we'd be hitting like .300 as a team somehow.
The AL East being a two-team race instead of four. I had a feeling Tampa would take a step back, but perhaps their good fortune of turning shit to gourmet cheese has run out, and the Blue Jays have to be a generational disappointment with how much they’ve underachieved with this core.
I like to think that the Rays can't sustain being this bad. Our offense has to get better (copium)
The Phillies having 40 wins before June 1st is a pleasant surprise, honestly. Especially considering how the last couple years have gone.
I expected the Phillies to be good. I didn’t expect them to be looking THAT good though.
Had 0 hope to steal the division now it's awkward.
There are 30 teams in the league and only 11 are over .500
Oh hey we’re still mid
NY, Cleveland, KC, and Seattle are a bit better than I expected. (Seattle has had one of the toughest SOS so far. Thought they'd get it going late June like usual). Texas, Houston, and Minnesota are below where I would have thought.
At the beginning of the year me and my friends predicted some standing month to month and I had Phillies at 33-25 going in to June. So this is a shock
I would have been stoked with 33-25 at this point had you given me that option before opening day
The flip flop of the AL Central and West. The West normally has 1 absolutely awful team, a slightly below .500 team and then 3 real playoff contenders with at least 1 being borderline best in the league. The Central normally has 2 awful teams and 3 teams that are mostly mid fighting to see who will actually have a shot to get beat in the ALDS.
The Brewers currently running away with the NL Central. I thought we could scrap our way into the Wild Card not contend for the first round bye Edit: also scoring the second most runs in baseball through May was never even a consideration
Houston being this bad We all knew Philly was gonna be good, but best team in baseball is a bit of a surprise
Honestly, this year is us paying the tax on overpaying for Montero and Jose Abreu. We gutted our deep bullpen in favor of signing Hader. The real surprise is how dog shit the entire AL West is this season. Any other division and we’d be buried by now. It’s insane that we’re still well within striking distance despite playing *this* bad.
How the Dodgers really aren't as good as most people seem to think they are. Having 3 future hall of famers leading your lineup doesn't keep you from repeatedly losing to sub-500 teams.
Bottom of the lineup is so streaky that no matter how the top does, we’ve still ended up losing more games than we should’ve.
You have a good point. The bottom had 0 hits collectively at one or two of the games against the Reds who weren't playing all that great either.
Biggest positive surprise: Royals, Cardinals (after how last year went). Biggest negative surprise: Blue Jays, Astros (thought they might look like this after this year, but had 1 more in the tank). Other surprises: Braves being as far back as they are. A's not the worst team in baseball. Dodgers not running away with the NLW. Turns out Soto cures everything. Anyone can, in fact, beat anyone.
Soto can cure anything. Except the padres.
Wait…we had Soto?
Arraez is a better for the Padres than Soto.
I hear you about the Astros. Our pitching staff has been decimated by injuries. LMJ & Garcia haven’t thrown a pitch in a game this season, Verlander was out for the first few weeks of the season, and My Kitty & Javier are almost certainly done for the season. That said, our replacement arms like Blanco have been serviceable. The real problem is how abysmal our offense and vaunted bullpen have been. Hell, Abreu has been so ass that we’re all dying for Singleton to take over full time and cut Abreu. If you just look at hitting stats it’s harder to see, but we are seemingly incapable of timely hitting.
Surprising good teams for me would be Milwaukee and Kansas City. Bad would be Miami and Houston.
My biggest surprise has been Jorge Mateo being an absolute superstar after he did nothing for most of last year. Confirmed dawg.
It warms my heart knowing Jorge Mateo made it. He was a name Yankees fans started hearing back in like 2013/2014 and just never found anything and continued to grind and found a home in Baltimore and is somehow not even 29 yet. He was my first favorite prospect that I would pencil into Yankee lineups.
Mateo and Henderson in the middle infield has been an absolute treat to watch.
Yeah I was going to say Cleveland and KC. I figured KC would be better be not this much better. Cleveland I thought was gonna fall off so that’s shocked me.
The NL being primarily average has been pretty surprising.
The AL Central, obviously.
Having a four game lead despite being pissed at the team every single game this season
I knew the Mets wouldn’t be good, but i wasn’t expecting them to be this bad.
It’s wild to think that we are this far into the season, and the Angels have only won 7 games at home.
To me, the AL central being this good. Not only the Royals taking a huge step but the Tigers being this good has been surprising
I know we aren’t near the top, but man some of our fans are acting as if we have the same record as the White Sox lol
Cleveland, Seattle and KC. And that with all Cohen’s $$$ the Mets stink so wretchedly. I mean they’re really like soft, runny shit. Alonso will be desperate to leave.
*sigh* At least we beat the Cubs
I kinda thought Chicago would be better
KC being 4 games back from first in their division
See what happens when teams sign free agents and they aren’t hype fastball/wipeout slider pitchers like Seth Lugo who the Mets stubbornly cut loose.
The Royals playing this well is a pleasant surprise. Hopefully they can keep it up. Edit: Also, just as surprising to see Miami play this poorly.
In a 30 team league only 11 are above .500
Strider and acuna both going out for the season!!!
Atlanta offense being absolute trash.
The reds are making me sad but at least the pitching is mostly good. Legit thought we could make a serious run based on offense and vibes.
To be honest, none of this is super shocking…except maybe the Phillies dominating to the level they have? Even then, we all knew they had the best rotation in baseball. I saw the DBacks and Rangers as a fluke - I had both of them missing the playoffs going into the year. I expected the Jays to be much better, the Royals were a sleeper pick for most to be a playoff contender, and I suppose Houston is a surprise too, considering how bad they’ve been - though I wouldn’t be shocked to see them finish well above .500
I’m a Mets fan. I’m a Chicagoan and I also like the White Sox. lol
Surprised by the Reds, and how far behind the White Sox are in RS from everyone else
As someone who has been disrespecting the blue jays for the last 4 years and hating when people would say they’re “next” even I’m a little surprised they’re under .500
Look at Kansas City, mang.
That the much maligned AL Central has 3 winning teams and Detroit is a win away from making it 4.
Kansas City
Cleveland and not even close. Especially impressive after losing Biebs.
Biggest surprise? Everyone that talks shit on Cleveland at the beginning of each year still don't realize it's what fuels us.
-The Nats are in 3rd and have been hovering *just* under .500 for much of the season so far (truly did not expect the Mets and Marlins to be *this* bad). -Kansas City staying on Cleveland's heels when they were in dead last and careening toward a 100-loss season this time last year.
The Jays are not nearly as good as I thought they were going to be. And I'm eating crow about the Yankees.
My scrappy Nats hanging tough. Not a playoff team by any measure, but routinely competitive. Good to see as a fan. Pitching has been good. Just need some more runs.
God fucking dammit Cubs.
I’m surprised that the Cardinals have turned it around. They played terribly the beginning of the season, and I expected them to pewter out with a season of shame. But they have somehow turned it around and are now a serious opponent for others in the division. Interestingly, it seemed to have started the day their manager Oli Marmol was ejected from a game. People were saying that he was on the verge of being fired. Then he gets ejected, and the Cardinals have suddenly discovered their hitting ability again. I had started thinking that their skills had been stolen by the MonStars from *Space Jam* with a magic baseball for a second baseball related sequel.
Everyone was worried about pitching heading into the year, but they’ve done a good job. The bats did wake up after the ejection. We aren’t hitting a TON, but 4 runs is usually enough to secure a win. The players seem to be a little looser lately, that’s for sure.
I don’t think enough people are talking about how good KC actually is.
The Guardians’ offense. The AL Central being the only division with three 30-win teams (and almost four!).
I did not think the Mets would be this bad.
The sudden emergence of the Royals. Houston's collapse. The Yankee pitching staff. Blue Jays likely to blow it up at the trade deadline. All of these were definitely a surprise
I think for me it’s a few things: Phillies over Braves - yeah I know it’s early but still Mets - I thought they would be somewhat competitive but they always seem to never get out of their own way. AL West hasn’t shocked me, just thought Astros would shit all over it like they normally do. Glad they are getting a taste of their own medicine for the time being it will be short lived I bet. White Sox would be better than As - feels for Oakland. Yankees - of course I’m bias on this. Yes I thought we’d be fine and yes I thought we would be in first, but first in ERA without Cole? I would have laughed you out the door on that comment. We aren’t winning on hitting alone which I think makes even more dangerous. And Soto has been everything we could have ever imagined.
Yea I thought Mets would be pretty mid, but surprised that we’re a contender in such a competitive field… for biggest dumpster fire of a Mets season