Heading into this season, one of the more under-discussed storylines was the new schedule. That is, Major League Baseball made an adjustment for 2023 that balanced the schedule a bit more than in past years. Teams are now playing a good number fewer divisional games (52 in 2023 vs. 76 in 2022) and that means a lot more games outside the division. When I went to work up my annual column on picking overs and unders on the preseason gambling win totals, I relied rather heavily on the divisional aspect.
That is, I bumped the AL East teams up a bit and dinged the Central teams in both leagues. The rationale was simple. I thought the AL East was the strongest division in baseball while the two Centrals were the weak divisions.
It is playing out swimmingly thus far. Specifically, the AL East is absurdly strong. The Rays were one of the quickest teams to 30 wins in MLB history. The Blue Jays have been one of the better teams in baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox are fighting each other to stay out of last place, but they are also both above .500 with breathing room.
The division is collectively 48 games over .500. The Yankees are on pace to win 89 games and finish in last place, which is just an outrageous thing to envision. AL East teams are 93-46 outside the division. To put it in terms we can all understand, AL East teams are playing like a 108-win team when they don't play each other. The worst team outside the division is the Red Sox and they are 15-12.
And, no, I didn't forget about Baltimore above. Let's give some individual love to the Orioles here for a quick second.
It wasn't that long ago that the Orioles were a total laughingstock. They lost 110 games in 2021, completing a string of three straight 162-game seasons with at least 108 losses. Through that lens, that's one of the worst teams in MLB history.
Last season, the Orioles broke through with an 83-win season. Heading into 2023, I was tough on the Orioles' front office for not doing enough in the offseason to supplement the roster. Through just about 1/4 of the season, however, the Orioles look every bit a playoff team. It's a well-rounded offense that runs the bases well and has a star centerpiece in catcher Adley Rutschman. The bullpen is one of the best in baseball (take a look at Yennier Cano and his 22 strikeouts without a walk in 19 2/3 innings).
I still wish they would've done more in addressing the starting rotation and perhaps the issues there cause the team problems in the second half, but there's always the trade deadline to add some beef there.
For now, though, the Orioles are one of the best teams in baseball. It's been quite the quick turn.
As for the rankings, you'll find all five AL East teams in the top 10. The division is that damn good.
Biggest Movers
Rk Teams Chg Rcrd 1The Rays now have eight pitchers on the injured list. We've seen the impact of this with the way the bullpen has been melting down the last few days. The good news is they get to play the Mets next.
2Guess who is tied for the league lead in wins? Yep, 35-year-old Clayton Kershaw. He's rocking a 2.36 ERA and striking hitters out like it's 2017.
3One of the few concerns to this point has to be the slow start from Gunnar Henderson. He's now hitting .178 with a .346 slugging percentage and 40 strikeouts in 107 at-bats.
4Nathan Eovaldi has now gone at least eight innings in three straight starts. That's the first time in his career he's ever done that. Last outing, he established a new career high with 12 strikeouts. He's 33 years old.
5They are now 12-3 at home, fresh off a sweep of the Braves.
6In the integration era, only 12 players have ever scored at least 140 times in a season, topping out with Jeff Bagwell's 152 in 2000. The most recent case is A-Rod with 143 in 2007. Ronald Acuña Jr. is on pace to score 142 times this year.
7OK, maybe the hot streak is coming right now? The champs have won four of five and have the Cubs (more on them below) and A's at home this coming week.
8A few weeks ago I discussed Christian Yelich and essentially said we should all move on from thinking he'd ever be MVP caliber again. After all, it isn't a small sample or anything. It's been three years. He is on quite a heater right now, though. In the month of May (12 games), he's hitting .348 with four homers, 12 RBI and 10 runs. He's homered three times in the last two games, too.
9Signs of life? Signs of life! The Yankees went 5-2 last week with the offense averaging over seven runs per game. Sure, some of that is skewed because the A's are an embarrassment, but they scored plenty in their split with the mighty Rays.
10Just think if they actually had a rotation. Every single Red Sox pitcher with at least three starts has an ERA of at least 5.01. Brutal.
11I absolutely LOVE Joey Gallo in the leadoff spot. Speaking of Mr. Gallo, he has nine home runs in 91 at-bats so far this season. That's a home run every 10.1 at-bats. Aaron Judge last season homered every 9.19 at-bats.
12Zac Gallen, man. Good grief. He now has 70 strikeouts against eight walks in 57 1/3 innings. That goes with a 2.35 ERA, 1.77 FIP and 0.86 WHIP. Ridiculous.
13The six-game losing streak was followed by a five-game winning streak. They're just gonna be streaky all season, which lines up with last year, when they timed their last hot streak rather nicely.
14Is this their hot streak? The Mariners have won nine of their last 13. Julio is showing signs of heating up, too.
15Since getting to a season-high five games over .500, the Angels have lost six of eight.
16After their win last Friday night, the Padres were three games over .500 and only a game out in the NL West. It felt like maybe they were hitting their stride and were gearing up for a hot streak. They've now lost seven of their last eight since, though, and a stern -- public -- tongue-lashing from their manager didn't help.
17Mitch Keller now has a 2.38 ERA and 69 strikeouts against 14 walks in 56 2/3 innings. It's a full-on breakout and he's very likely headed to the All-Star Game. As for the rankings, this is probably too high, if anything. That 20-8 start was a total fluke and they are in the process of giving it back.
18The Mets have lost 14 of their last 20 and only three of those games came against teams currently above .500. It should have been a time to get fat off weak competition and instead the Mets starved. I was only half-kidding in the Rays comment, as the Mets have talent but just aren't inspiring at all right now.
19Josh Naylor has hit go-ahead homers in three straight games and in the case of the latter two, both were three-run shots. Not a bad weekend of work, eh?
20Eury Pérez is all kinds of fun. He'll be inconsistent, but a wiry 6-foot-8 fireballer who is deceptive and will miss a ton of bats is must-see viewing.
21Christopher Morel is crushing the ball, just like he was when stuck in the minors for over a month. The team as a whole, however, has been bad for more than half the season so far. They are 8-15 since sweeping the hapless A's.
22You might not have noticed it -- and no one would blame you -- but the Reds have been pretty formidable for a few weeks. They've gone 11-7 since being swept in Pittsburgh.
23And here they come. It'll be interesting to see if they can overcome the crater-sized, 10-24 hole they dug for themselves. A big week awaits, as they'll host the Brewers for three and the Dodgers for four.
24Heading into the season, the Tigers would've been toward the very bottom of a list of teams most likely to have the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. And yet, Eduardo Rodriguez right now would be firmly in the mix.
25They are 7-14 at home and 10-9 on the road. It's a Reverse Rockies!
26I've said multiple times this season that the Giants are a combination of bad and boring. Rookie sensation Casey Schmitt, however, is neither. Tons of fun.
27Seeing an obscure reliever on a bad team screaming at the defending NL champs' dugout was really something. But hey, a lot of people learned the name "Jake Bird," albeit temporarily, so whatever.
28Salvador Perez's home run Sunday was the 232nd of his MLB career. He's second in Royals history and is probably a decent bet to set the franchise record. George Brett has it with 317.
29In his last 12 game, Luis Robert is 18 for 42 (.429) with five doubles, six homers, 14 RBI and 15 runs. We've long known he has MVP upside and he's still only 25 years old. Too bad this team is pathetic.
30The A's are on pace to go 35-127. That says it all, doesn't it?
