It’s been a long time since I remember two teams off to the starts that the White Sox (3-18) and the Rockies (5-17) are off to. There is a lot of parity elsewhere in the league, with 18 of the 30 teams being no more than four games over or below .500.
Its impact is clear already. The Phillies had the good fortune of hosting the Rockies and White Sox for three apiece, going 6-0. The Guardians (16-6) are off to a surprising start under first-time skipper Stephen Vogt, but they have played 13 games against teams that don’t fit into the 18 teams that make up MLB’s parity-laden standings. Six of their 16 wins have come at the behest of the A’s, another two against the White Sox and then two more against a Twins team struggling with injuries.
This coming week, those struggling Twins host the White Sox for four games but won’t have Carlos Correa, Max Kepler and Royce Lewis. If the Twins struggle against the Chi-Sox, it could spell doom for their season. The Sox then go home for three against the Rays.
Speaking of struggling teams, the Astros are an unspeakable 7-16 after 23 games. They started the season without Lance McCullers, Luis Garcia and Justin Verlander. Since the season started, they have lost three starters to the injured list — José Urquidy, Framber Valdez and now Cristian Javier. Recent call-up Spencer Arrighetti has been ineffective.
Verlander made his first start of the season, and the team is 1-0 with him on the mound. But the days of his carrying a team are long gone. The Astros go into Wrigley for three midweek games and then they get a series in Colorado. That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s one of those oddball two-game weekend series — just Saturday and Sunday at Coors.
A couple interesting series are coming up on April 26-28, starting with the Yankees visiting Miller Park for three games. We’ll see if Aaron Judge can get started and if Juan Soto can keep up his impersonation of an AL MVP. The Brewers have gotten off to a great start despite very spotty starting performances by anyone not named Freddy Peralta or Colin Rea.
Wondering how DL Hall is doing as a starter? He just hit the IL with a knee sprain. So far, Hall is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA and 2.30 WHIP. Teams are batting .380 against him. He has allowed 27 hits and 10 walks in 16.1 innings. He has also given up a home run every four innings.
The Dodgers will visit Toronto as well. An entire nation thought Shohei Ohtani would be playing his home games at Rogers Centre in 2024 and beyond. Well, he’ll play at least these three games in front of what figures to be a raucous crowd of Ohtani haters. That should make for interesting viewing.
Here are my MLB power rankings:
1. Atlanta Braves (14-6, No. 3 last week): The Braves are still winning despite the starting pitching not living up to expectations. Baseball is a funny game: Marcell Ozuna has nine homers so far, while Ronald Acuña Jr. (one), Austin Riley (two) and Matt Olson (three) have combined for six.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (14-8, No. 6): The schedule-makers gave the Phillies a layup of three apiece against the Rockies and White Sox, but I appreciate the professionalism of taking care of business to the tune of 6-0.
3. Baltimore Orioles (14-7, No. 4): This team sure can hit home runs, but while closer Craig Kimbrel has been brilliant, the early results from the rest of the bullpen have been shaky.
4. New York Yankees (15-7, No. 1): It’s still an impressive start, but that four-game sweep in Houston sure has had some luster removed by the Astros’ 6-17 record. Bravo to John Sterling, the retiring voice of the Yankees’ radio broadcasts for 36 years.
5. Milwaukee Brewers (14-6, No. 7): The Brewers are off to a great start in rookie skipper Pat Murphy’s first season at the helm of a big league club. Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea are doing a great job at the head of the rotation. Nobody else called a starter is holding his weight, which makes for difficulty down the road.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (13-11, No. 2): It’s not nearly time to panic because the Dodgers are still atop an NL West that looks diminished. But of the five starting pitchers used thus far, only Tyler Glasnow and the brittle James Paxton have ERA marks below 3.00. Walker Buehler is struggling in his rehab stints and Clayton Kershaw is still a post-All-Star Game hope.
7. Cincinnati Reds (12-9, No. 5): The Reds spent a good sum of money to ramp up the pitching staff — and it’s helped — but they lost two key offensive pieces during spring training. Outfielder TJ Friedl is about 10 days away from a rehab stint and second baseman Matt McLain could possibly be back from shoulder surgery around Aug. 1.
8. Cleveland Guardians (16-6, No. 12): I have the Guardians in the top 10, but they are 10-2 against teams under .500. Let’s see how they handle Atlanta this coming weekend.
9. Texas Rangers (12-11, No. 9): Is it just me, or does Max Scherzer’s quick return smell of a bit of desperation given Jack Leiter’s disaster of a debut and return to Triple-A?
10. Arizona Diamondbacks (11-12, No. 10): The D-Backs are very fortunate the Dodgers are only off to a 13-11 start. That leaves Arizona just two games back. I have to hand it to ownership. When high-priced free agent Eduardo Rodríguez got hurt, the D-Backs didn’t play the waiting game. They went all-in to sign Jordan Montgomery, who may just save their season.
11. Kansas City Royals (13-9, No. 11)
12. Chicago Cubs (13-9, No. 16)
13. Detroit Tigers (13-9, No. 13)
14. Tampa Bay Rays (12-11, No. 15)
15. Seattle Mariners (11-11, No. 19)
16. Boston Red Sox (13-10, No. 14)
17. Toronto Blue Jays (12-10, No. 21)
18. New York Mets (12-9, No. 23)
19. Pittsburgh Pirates (11-11, No. 8)
20. San Diego Padres (12-12, No. 20)
21. Houston Astros (7-16, No. 17)
22. Minnesota Twins (7-13, No. 18)
23. San Francisco Giants (10-13, No. 25)
24. Los Angeles Angels (9-13, No. 24)
25. Washington Nationals (10-11, No. 27)
26. St. Louis Cardinals (9-13, No. 22)
27. Oakland Athletics (8-14, No. 26)
28. Miami Marlins (6-17, No. 28)
29. Colorado Rockies (5-17, No. 29)
30. Chicago White Sox (3-18, No. 30)
