April Review

The first month of the 2015 season has come and gone and we have learned a lot already in only the first 4 weeks. There have been a couple teams and players that have caught the attention of the baseball world and seem to climbing the ladder at a quicker rate than most people expected. Teams that most people thought were still in the works of rebuilding have now shown everyone that they are for real and ready to start making a run at a title. Other teams made bold moves over the offseason to try and bolster their roster but those moves have started to backfire and a couple teams find themselves already in a deep hole. It is sill too early to make bold predictions about the playoff picture, but as an analyst it is always fun to make them and see how it all turns out in September.

Here is my first month analysis of some of the big stories that came out of the first 4 weeks of the season.

Must see teams that have grabbed everyones attention.

Houston Astros
Yes the Astros. The team that only two season ago had 111 losses have almost half the number of wins they had that season through the first 28 games. It is exciting to see that one of the teams that spends almost every year in the cellar of baseball is now playing great baseball and found a great balance of hitting and fantastic pitching to lead the charge. Led by offensive stud Jose Altuve who won the batting title last year, the first in the Astros franchise history and under the radar acquisitions of Evan Gattis, Colby Rasmus, Jed Lowrie and Jake Marisnick. The Astros just had their 10 game winning streak snapped this past week, but are still sitting atop the AL West with a 5 game cushion over the second place Angels. Their pitching has been very impressive in the early going led by ace Dallas Keuchel who is 3-0 with a 0.80 ERA (which leads the MLB) in 45 innings this season.

St. Louis Cardinals
A team that always finds themselves at the top of their division are off to a high flying start again in 2015, with the best start in their franchise history through 27 games. The Cardinals were horrified with news a few weeks ago that they would have to go the rest of the season without their ace Adam Wainwright who tore his achilles after turning his ankle running out of the batters box on a pop up. But ever since they heard that news they have not missed a beat, the rest of the rotation has picked him up tremendously and the team has opened up a 5.5 game lead in the NL Central. Offensively they are led by the usual cast of Matt Carpenter, Matt Holliday, Matt Adams and newcomer Jason Heyward who they acquired in the offseason from the Braves.

Must see players.

Joc Pederson
The pride of Palo Alto high school here is the Bay Area has been a spark for the Dodgers this season as their new everyday centerfielder to replace Matt Kemp who they traded to the Padres in the offseason. Joc is off to a tremendous start in the outfield, already helping out the Dodgers on defense, especially with Yasiel Puig being on the shelf for most of the season so far. Offensively he is hitting .272 AVG with 9 HRs 18 RBIs and 19 R in his first 27 games. The craziest statistic about Pederson has come in the past week, his last 7 hits have all been home runs. After his ridiculous season last year in minor leagues last year his success so far seems pretty sustainable, the home runs are coming at a crazy pace, but he is doing all he can to help the Dodgers. Definitely a player people should keep their eye on this season.

Nelson Cruz
Cruz has brought his boomstick to Seattle and the Mariner fans are loving so far this season. The veteran slugger has been tearing the cover off the baseball with 14 home runs in his first 28 games. To go along with a .333 AVG with 26 RBIs, 19 R, .757 SLG he has been the most potent bat in the Mariners lineup this season that is searching for some consistency this season after a dismal 11-17 start to the season with a seat in the bottom of the AL West. Regardless of how the Mariners are doing, Cruz is definitely a player to watch this season and see how many home runs he can hit.

Impact of the new rules
The new pace of play rules have been implemented this season around the MLB and a clock has been put in stadiums that gives 2 minutes and 25 seconds between each inning for pitchers to warm up between innings to keep the game moving and allow fans to stay more interested. I believe that the changes are making a little difference, as an everyday fan I have noticed that games have been moving at a lot swifter pace than usual, so it seems like the new rules are working.

Final review
It is hard to make serious predictions in April with such a long season, but as many people say, it is hard to win a division in April, but it is easy to lose one. A few teams that are going to have trouble turning this around are the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. I am not sure that the overall plans are for these teams, they do not seem to be making serious enough moves to make them contenders.