Mudge’s Musings – April Re-cap

By Mudge • May 3, 2010

With April in the books and May only a few days old, let’s take a look at the first month of MLB 2010, including first off, an assessment of the standings.

AL East. It will be a two-team race, but contrary to what many of us at SBT predicted, the Boston Red Sox are not one of the two.* Nor is it likely that they will be. This is a Tampa Bay Rays/New York Yankees shootout right now (note that I put the Rays first in this, and it’s not bcause they come first in the alphabet). They Rays have an MLB best 67+ run differential, which is outstanding after only one month. Suffice it to say that they are operating on all eight cylinders. The Yankees, for their part, are second in MLB with a 47+ run differential. The Toronto Blue Jays muddle along with some decent pitching performances, the Boston Red Sox are – to the delight of many anti-Boston fans – a disaster, having lost 3 straight to arguably the worst team in the majors (but perhaps the comeback story of the early season) the Baltimore Orioles.

AL Central This is shaping up to be a re-run of 2009. The MinnesotaTwins got off to the hot start, but have cooled in the last 10 games (5-5). Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers have made a recent surge and closed the gap. The Twins lose Joe Mauer, however, for what looks to be an extended period of time, and despite replacement Wilson Ramos getting 4 hits in his first day on the job, this could signal a continued close battle. The rest of the AL Central are out it already, especially the Kansas City Royals. More on them below.

AL West It’s anyone’s division to win or lose at this point. The Texas Rangers have made a positive move in the past week while the Oakland A’s have come back to earth, so to speak, thinks in some measure to the disappointing – but not entirely unexpected – wretched start for the $10 million dollar gamble called Ben Sheets. I’m still thinking that this division will go to the LA Angels of Anaheim, who (lucky for them) get to face Boston this week. Despite the return of Cliff Lee, the Seattle Mariners seem aimless.

NL East We said the Philadelphia Philles would run away with this division**, and they just may well end up doing that, led by the incomparable pitching of Roy Halladay. But the New York Mets, suddenly resurgent, are giving them a run for the money. Don’t count on it in the long run, however, as the Mets pitching, in particular one Mike Pelfry, is not strong enough to sustain a true challenge over the long haul (that’s right; you heard it here). The Florida Marlins have enough young talent to muck up the works from time to time, but they are not going to be a serious contender. Same with the Washinton Nationals. More on the woes of the Atlanta Braves at a later date, when I figure them out.

NL Central. We almost all picked the St. Louis Cardinals to repeat in this division.*** And, likewise, we picked the Chicago Cubs to make a go od it. So far, those predictions have been realized, and in all likelihood, that’s going to be the way the rest of the season works out. In the long run, the Cubs are not going to overtake the Cards, who by the way possess an NL-best 41+ run differential. The rest of this division are awful, and the only team that might make a move will be the mercurial Milwaukee Brewers. More on them below.

NL West We needed on surprise division, and this is it. The suddenly juvenated San Diego Padres lead by a good margin. Why? Pitching. As for the San Francisco Giants, they of the best starting pitching in the majors, well, they’ll be in it for sure. However, not so sure about the rest of the teams, all of whom have performed below expectations, especially the Los Angeles Dodgers.

SOME SURPRISES OF APRIL (in no particular order)

Paul Konerko leads the majors with 12 home runs.
One of the five best pitchers in the majors, Zack Greinke is 0-3. Actually, this is no surprise. The Royals are horrible. Greinke has a sub-3 ERA and of couse no run support.
Backup catcher, Jason Varitek leads the Red Sox in home runs, with 5. Well, Pedroia has 6, but it didn’t sound so good if I told the truth. The point is that the Red Sox offense sucks – but not as much as their starting pitching.
The all-over-the-place Milwaukee Brewers played an unimaginably strange string of games dating from the middle of the month on: 0-8, 11-7, 8-1, 8-0, 20-0, 1-8, 1-5, 2-12, 17-3, 3-7, 5-6 (what happened here?), 0-9, 0-3, 2-1 (oops! another good game), 0-8.
Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez has more home runs (8) than Albert Pujols (7).
Livan Hernandez, whose fastball tops out at 84 MPH, sports a 0.87 ERA, second only to the Rockies star, Ubaldo Jiminez (0.79).
Three second basemen, Robinson Cano (1.196), Ty Wigginton (1.157), and Kelly Johnson (1.130) are in the top 6 for OPS (both leagues combined).