Baseball has me excited this year early on. Last year I wrote about how baseball does not start until after the All Star break, but now I am fully in, and it’s not even May yet.

Sorry for being late, I went to the Red Sox game on Tuesday, which featured not only two balks and an error in the same inning by the one and only Alfredo Aceves, but lots of rain and cold. Witch ticket sales struggling Fenway does what it never does, offered to allow anyone with tickets to that game in on Wednesday or Thursday. So I was at the Sox on Tuesday, was hungover as hell on Wednesday, Sox last night and now here we are. That’s why I’m late.

Anyway, this young season has been rather crazy already. It started with a bang when Yu nearly no hit in the Astros all the way up till now where the Sox and Yanks lead the AL East 20+ games in.

Cy Young Winners thus far:

Paul Malholm

This guy has been silly good so far. He has only allowed 3 ER in four starts, that equates to a 1.03 ERA to go along with his .87 WHIP.

Clay Buchholz

It is certainly looking like the Sox found something in their new manager. He seems have really helped out the pitching staff especially Buccholz. He has been the best pitcher in baseball this season. He has a 1.19 ERA to go along with his 5-0 record. He got hit a bit last night, mostly because I was there, but outside of that game he has two 7+ inning shut outs. He has walked a few more guys than you would, especially when he walked 4 while taking a no hit bid into the 8th inning against the Rays. And he is 2nd in the AL in strikeouts to just the machine known as Yu.

MVPs

Justin Upton

Without a doubt the NL MVP thus far. His start has been a bit shocking. Unlike his brother, BJ whom we all know has sucked for the last 2-3 years yet they made a big deal out of him joining his brother Justin in Atlanta. Now BJ  has struck out 27 times in 20 games and is batting .150. Justin has clearly stamped himself as the dominant Upton. Justin is batting .316 with three more home runs than anyone else in baseball. Thanks to Justin hitting for two Uptons nobody in baseball has more wins than the Braves.  

Chris Davis

Started out on fire and has not slowed down much. He may not be hitting home runs like he was to start the year but he is still batting .368 with 24 RBI to go along with his 8 home runs with give him a share of the most in baseball by anyone not named Justin Upton. Most people had the Orioles in dead last place this year but Davis’ bat has helped the Orioles to a 13-9 record which is good for a wild card in the AL, a half game up on the Yankees.

Quickie Power Ranks

1. Texas Rangers

I will admit, I snubbed Yu Darvish with my AL Cy Young pick. I won’t snub the Rangers with this one. Like the Braves, the Rangers have 15 wins the most in the big leagues. That is in large part to their pitching and defense. They have allowed only 65 runs, best in the AL, while scoring 102. That puts them +37 which is rather impressive this early in the year.

I will give Yu his due. Buchholz has struck out 39 batters in 37.2 innings while Darvish has struck out 49 in just 32.2 innings. That is remarkable. With his 4-1 record and 1.65 ERA I don’t think anyone would be upset with him winning Cy Young over Buchholz right now.

2. Boston Red Sox

The Sox have been fun to watch this year. They are the reason I really am back into baseball. After all the shenanigans the last year and a half I needed a break from the Sox, which transpired into a break from most all baseball. Now I am refreshed and having fun watching these guys play. They seem to actually want to be there this year and they are having fun doing so. 15 wins this team as well and they are playing very well as a team.

Somebody is always stepping up and igniting the rest of the team. Mostly that has been Mike Napoli. He leads the majors in RBI with 26 thanks to his 18 in the last 12 games. I don’t think anyone predicted this team would have 107 runs this early in the year especially with Ortiz just getting back a few days ago. Pair that with new manager John Farrell who has the picthing staff getting better and closer to living up to their hype and you have a scary team.

3. Atlanta Braves

They probably should be above the Rangers and Sox but Craig Kimbrel just blew a 2 run save opportunity that eventually cost them the game in the 12th inning. They have been just about perfect this year, they even have the Rangers topped with a +41 run differential including allowing just 55 runs. If they want to stay firmly in the playoff hunt they are going to need that to continue and they need to hope that was just a fluke from Craig Kimbrel the other night.

4. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are doing just as I predicted, tearing the cover off the ball. 117 runs is the most scored by any team in the NL. They even got to the great Craig Kimbrel for two runs. They have shaky pitching at best, but as long as they keep hiting, they can keep winning.

5. Milwaukee Brewers

What a run the Brewers are on. They had won nine straight, in which they scored 52 runs, until losing to the Padres Wednesday night. I can’t imagine them hanging around in the top 5 for long but if they keep scoring nearly six runs a night they just might.

mlz

Friday, April 20 2013