Written By: Michael Jordan Miller
I am not going to hide this fact at all, but baseball has been, and probably always will be, my favorite of the major sports in America. I will also not hide the fact that the Boston Red Sox are my favorite team in Major League Baseball. So, following an off season that included picking up an in-division rival's best player (Carl Crawford) and the best hitter in the National League not named Albert Pujols (Adrian Gonzalez) I would be lying if I didn't say I was expecting anything less than a World Series appearance this season.
And here we are three weeks into the (still young) season and I feel like the standings throughout all of MLB are flip-flopped from what most experts had previously predicted before the season. Yes, the Yankees are atop of the American League East, the Rangers atop of the AL West, and the Phillies atop of the NL East. Most could have predicted that happening. But, when you dive deeper into the standings you see that a lot of small market teams have something to root for heading into Summer. The Indians, Reds, and Rockies are all leading their divisions and the Royals, Blue Jays, Rays, Marlins, Nationals, and Brewers all either have winning records or are in second in their division. Then you have teams such as the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Athletics, and Orioles who are all hanging around .500 and far from out of their division races.
You might be asking how three weeks into a season any team can really be considered out of the hunt for a playoff berth? Being from around the Pittsburgh area and having quite a lot of my friends be fans of the lowly Pirates, I have to say that I have seen their reaction to the season after as little as ten games. Something feels different about this year. I don't know if it's a league-wide pandemic, or the fact that every team this year just seems to be average coming out of the gates, but fans of teams in these small markets have a glimmer of hope heading into the upcoming Summer months.
Where does this leave teams such as the Red Sox (5-11), Twins (6-11), White Sox (7-10), Tigers (8-10), Braves (8-10), Cardinals (8-8), Cubs (8-8), and Dodgers (8-10)? All of these teams spend far and away more money than those previously mentioned teams on their players. What is the cause of this lack of standout teams early in the year and no team really showing any promise of running away with the title as "best team"? Currently, no team has a winning streak of more than three games and only eight teams have a winning percentage over .600. Granted, the rust is still probably being worked out and most players probably realize not a lot of people are paying much attention to MLB with the NBA and NHL playoffs both in full-swing and the NFL draft just a week away. Or maybe all of the talk about how terribly bad MLB needs a salary cap in place, like the beloved NFL, is completely overblown.
Something just feels different about this season. It does not seem as likely that these big market teams, such as my beloved Red Sox, are going to be able to flip the proverbial "switch" and catch fire late through the summer like seasons past. If teams like the Indians can keep their pitching in line and the Rockies can keep hitting the way that they do, it is going to extremely hard for the preseason favorites, such as the Red Sox, Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Giants, and Cardinals, to be able to grab their playoff spots when August comes around and into September.
Should MLB be concerned about the fact that these teams are slumping and the smaller market teams are striving right now? Once again, being from around a small market area, in terms of baseball, it is definitely nice to see that even three weeks into the season people are still caring about the Pirates. Something about seeing people care about baseball even in the early part of Spring brings a smile to my face. Bring on the summer. Bring on competitive baseball throughout the rest of the season. And most of all bring on the wish that this story is dead wrong and the Red Sox can lock up their division in September... Here's to hoping.
I am not going to hide this fact at all, but baseball has been, and probably always will be, my favorite of the major sports in America. I will also not hide the fact that the Boston Red Sox are my favorite team in Major League Baseball. So, following an off season that included picking up an in-division rival's best player (Carl Crawford) and the best hitter in the National League not named Albert Pujols (Adrian Gonzalez) I would be lying if I didn't say I was expecting anything less than a World Series appearance this season.
And here we are three weeks into the (still young) season and I feel like the standings throughout all of MLB are flip-flopped from what most experts had previously predicted before the season. Yes, the Yankees are atop of the American League East, the Rangers atop of the AL West, and the Phillies atop of the NL East. Most could have predicted that happening. But, when you dive deeper into the standings you see that a lot of small market teams have something to root for heading into Summer. The Indians, Reds, and Rockies are all leading their divisions and the Royals, Blue Jays, Rays, Marlins, Nationals, and Brewers all either have winning records or are in second in their division. Then you have teams such as the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Athletics, and Orioles who are all hanging around .500 and far from out of their division races.
You might be asking how three weeks into a season any team can really be considered out of the hunt for a playoff berth? Being from around the Pittsburgh area and having quite a lot of my friends be fans of the lowly Pirates, I have to say that I have seen their reaction to the season after as little as ten games. Something feels different about this year. I don't know if it's a league-wide pandemic, or the fact that every team this year just seems to be average coming out of the gates, but fans of teams in these small markets have a glimmer of hope heading into the upcoming Summer months.
Where does this leave teams such as the Red Sox (5-11), Twins (6-11), White Sox (7-10), Tigers (8-10), Braves (8-10), Cardinals (8-8), Cubs (8-8), and Dodgers (8-10)? All of these teams spend far and away more money than those previously mentioned teams on their players. What is the cause of this lack of standout teams early in the year and no team really showing any promise of running away with the title as "best team"? Currently, no team has a winning streak of more than three games and only eight teams have a winning percentage over .600. Granted, the rust is still probably being worked out and most players probably realize not a lot of people are paying much attention to MLB with the NBA and NHL playoffs both in full-swing and the NFL draft just a week away. Or maybe all of the talk about how terribly bad MLB needs a salary cap in place, like the beloved NFL, is completely overblown.
Something just feels different about this season. It does not seem as likely that these big market teams, such as my beloved Red Sox, are going to be able to flip the proverbial "switch" and catch fire late through the summer like seasons past. If teams like the Indians can keep their pitching in line and the Rockies can keep hitting the way that they do, it is going to extremely hard for the preseason favorites, such as the Red Sox, Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Giants, and Cardinals, to be able to grab their playoff spots when August comes around and into September.
Should MLB be concerned about the fact that these teams are slumping and the smaller market teams are striving right now? Once again, being from around a small market area, in terms of baseball, it is definitely nice to see that even three weeks into the season people are still caring about the Pirates. Something about seeing people care about baseball even in the early part of Spring brings a smile to my face. Bring on the summer. Bring on competitive baseball throughout the rest of the season. And most of all bring on the wish that this story is dead wrong and the Red Sox can lock up their division in September... Here's to hoping.
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