While there’s still a lot of baseball left to be played, the 2018 MLB season is now one-quarter old. That gives us more than enough of a sample size to do some true evaluating of what we’ve seen so far.
By and large, the baseball has been fantastic in the east. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been MLB’s best two teams, while the National League East race might end up featuring no fewer than four teams. Unfortunately, things have not looked so good when venturing down to Florida.
Southern California, meanwhile, has given us one of baseball’s most disappointing teams. But it’s also provided one of baseball’s most incredible stories. When we go up the Pacific Coast and into Seattle, we’ll find a someone who ruined what could have been a Hall of Fame career.
The 2018 MLB season has given us many winners and losers. These are the most notable.
Winner: Yankees/Red Sox rivalry almost as hot as ever
For fans of the Yankees and Red Sox, this is always relevant. Given the size of the two fan bases, it’s fair to say then that it’s always a big rivalry. That said, it can be a touch overrated in the eyes of the neutral fan. At least in certain seasons.
This is not one of those seasons. In years when the teams are evenly matched World Series favorites, this rivalry is special. It’s even better when there’s some bad blood. One-quarter of the way through 2018, New York and Boston have baseball’s best two records, have split six meetings and have even had a brawl for good measure. The rivalry is in a good place.
Until we get a playoff meeting, we can’t quite say this rivalry is where it was when the two met in consecutive seven-game ALCS’ in 2003 and 2004. But it’s definitely red hot now and things are certainly moving in that direction.
Loser: Hitters homering less, striking out more
In 2017, we saw more home runs than in any other season before. League wide, 6,105 home runs were hit. Not surprisingly, we also saw a record number of strikeouts — 40,104.
Home runs are down in 2018. Through the first 605 games, 1,392 home runs were hit. That works out to a pace of 5,591. But the smaller power numbers haven’t equaled a higher contact rate. Hitters have struck out 10,519 times. That works out to a pace of 42,250 strikeouts over a full season.
It’s still early and paces are often broken. But through the first quarter of the 2018 campaign, the pitchers have adjusted to what the hitters did to them in 2017 much better than the other way around.
Winner: Astros avoiding championship slump
The Yankees and Red Sox have deservedly received a great deal of attention. But overlooking the defending champion Houston Astros would be a gigantic mistake.
Houston was at 27-17 through its first 44 games. That’s the best start for a defending champion since 2006. While we’re a long way from October, the Astros look even more formidable as a potential playoff opponent now than they did a year ago. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton have the best three ERA’s in the American League.
The Astros don’t have baseball’s best record. But they are still well positioned to be MLB’s first repeat champ in nearly two decades.
Loser: Baseball in Florida
The Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins are 18-22 and 15-26, respectively. But there are a number of bad teams in baseball. This goes beyond the record.
The Chicago White Sox rank 28th in average attendance at 15,486. That’s bad. But when we put it in perspective, it doesn’t look so terrible. Tampa is drawing 14,710 fans a game, which ranks 29th in baseball. Miami’s new owners, meanwhile, haven’t done much but blow the team up and alienate its fan base. The Marlins rank dead last in attendance, bringing in 10,877 per game. In fact, they’ve have drawn nearly 40,000 fewer total fans than the White Sox, despite having played four more home games than Chicago.
Attendance isn’t everything. But numbers that low are troubling. There’s no way to spin it. The National pastime has seen better days in the Sunshine State.
Winner: National League East
The Marlins are going absolutely nowhere this year. That said, the rest of the National League East looks like it’ll be quite fun. The Washington Nationals struggled through much of April, but have since righted the ship. Unfortunately for them, the 24-18 mark is good enough for only third place in the division.
That’s thanks to the young Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies, who seem to be done with lengthy rebuilds. The Braves are 26-15. With youngsters like Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna Jr. and a stream of young pitchers coming through the system, another glory era of Atlanta Braves baseball doesn’t seem too crazy. The Philadelphia Phillies are 23-16 with a good mix of young talent like Odubel Herrera, veterans like Carlos Santana, and a pitching staff that’s finally coming together. We also can’t overlook the New York Mets, who have struggled since a hot start but still sit at 20-18.
At least two of these teams should give us an epic division race. Additionally, we wouldn’t be surprised to see three NL East teams in the playoffs.
Loser: Dodgers getting close to panic mode
It’s been a rough first quarter of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Injuries to guys like Clayton Kerhaw, Justin Turner and Corey Seager (just to name a few) have hit Los Angeles like a ton of bricks. The Dodgers are 16-25 and sit in fourth place in the National League West. With that in mind, one question seems significant for Los Angeles fans. Is there reason for optimism?
Actually, yes. History says that there is some hope for the Dodgers. Of the 60 teams to make the playoffs since 2012 (when MLB adopted the current postseason format), 10 did have losing records at this point of the year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that none were as bad as 16-25.
Still, recent history says that making the playoffs is possible. It also says that if you’re a Dodgers’ fan, there’s reason to feel a bit nervous.
Winner: Manny Machado having monster contract year
If Machado’s goal this year was to go to a World Series, that’s not happening without a trade. The Baltimore Orioles have been abysmal. But Machado still has a long career ahead of him to make a World Series. Players only get one, maybe two chances to cash in a big payday. In his contract year, Machado is not missing that opportunity.
Machado is contending in all three Triple Crown categories. He leads the American League in RBI, is tied for the league lead in home runs, and is fourth in batting average. He’s done all of this while playing top-tier defense at shortstop, a premium position.
Machado will only be 26 in the offseason. If he continues playing this well, this could turn into a situation where the incredibly high speculated on numbers don’t end up coming close to what he actually makes.
Loser: American League Central can’t pressure inconsistent Indians
The American League Central is collectively having a dismal start to the season. Through play on May 15, all five of the division’s teams had a losing record. We can look at this as either really good for the teams chasing the first place Cleveland Indians, or really bad.
The former idea would say that despite having a losing record, these teams (specifically the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers) have hung in there. They’re just one good run away from jumping into first place. The latter idea says that the Indians were heavily favored in the division entering the year, have easily the most talented roster, and will have no problem eventually winning a division that it leads with a losing record this late into the year.
We’re going with idea No. 2. The way to beat a heavy favorite is to jump it early and take advantage of its mistakes. These teams haven’t done that with Cleveland. As a result, the Indians are well on their way to what should be a relatively easy division championship.
Winner: Pirates winning in tank season
This was supposed to be a tank year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs were expected to lose close to 100 games en route to being one of the worst teams in baseball. Apparently, though, the Pirates did not get that memo.
The Pirates actually sit in first place in the National League Central. This isn’t a pushover division, either. In fact, it’s been one of the best in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs all have winning records. Yet, at 24-17, Pittsburgh has been the best team. Who knows how long this will last? But a quarter of the way through the year, the Pirates are a clear winner of the 2018 season.
Loser: Dark Knight exiled from Gotham
Not too long ago, Matt Harvey was the face of the Mets. He was the man that gave New York hope as it was coming out of a prolonged period of rebuilding and the Mets’ Game 1 starter in the 2015 World Series. Three years later, Harvey could barley make it a month into the year before New York wanted no part of him anymore.
First, Harvey was removed from the starting rotation. After his run in the bullpen failed, Harvey was designated for assignment and eventually traded to the Cincinnati Reds, one of baseball’s worst teams. Time will tell how that will work out. Harvey is a starter again in Cincinnati and in his first two outings, he’s allowed just three runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and zero walks in eight innings.
Time will tell if things with the Reds will work out. But even if things go well, it will be hard to put any silver lining on the opening quarter of Harvey’s 2018 season.
Winner: Shohei Ohtani getting it done on the mound, at the plate
Because he can hit and pitch, Ohtani would have proven his value if he came in and was decent at both parts of the game. But Ohtani hasn’t been decent. The Los Angeles Angels’ rookie has thrived in both roles.
At the plate, Ohtani is hitting .342/.385/.630. The power has been there as well with Ohtani having five home runs. On the mound, Ohtani has a 3.58 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, a 3-1 record, and 43 strikeouts in 32.2 innings. Even better is that Ohtani has been best in the highest leverage situations. There’s a lot of baseball to play. But right now, Ohtani is clearly in the driver’s seat in the American League Rookie of the Year race and possibly the MVP race, as well.
Loser: Did Robinson Cano ruin his legacy?
It’s fair to say that the Seattle Mariners second baseman has had better weeks. On Sunday, Cano suffered a broken hand when he was hit by a pitch. As it turned out, that was only the appetizer. On Tuesday, it was announced that Cano had tested positive for a banned substance and will be suspended for 80 games.
Cano’s explanation was plausible, but a little less than logical. You can draw your own conclusions. But the reality is that Cano — who has very reasonable Hall of Fame credentials — will now be facing a significant uphill battle to get to Cooperstown. Truthfully, even if his explanation is proven true, these kind of labels aren’t shaken so easily by fans.
But even if everything works out relatively well for Cano from this point on, he’s still facing an 80-game suspension, will be ineligible for the playoffs, and will lose a shade under $12 million. That easily makes him one of the first half’s big losers.