The Major League Baseball regular season is a 162-game marathon, so you can’t put too much stake into a single week of games. The sky isn’t necessarily falling, nor is your favorite team’s World Series ticket already punched. However, you can look at those first records and look for sustainable trends, both positive and negative. For instance, are the Toronto Blue Jays doomed because their prized pitching acquisition, Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey, had a couple of really bad games? Is Justin Upton going to be able to hit 150 homeruns this year for his new team, the Atlanta Braves? Both answers are probably “no.”
On the other hand, a few trends have very real implications. In the National League, the woeful offenses of the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, and Miami Marlins haven’t shown even a spark of MLB-caliber explosiveness, making easy wins difficult over the course of a season. On the other hand, teams including the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland A’s, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets are averaging 2-3 runs more per game than their opponents. (Oh by the way, the Rockies and Mets played the aforementioned Padres in week one). Because of realignment taking the Houston Astros to the AL West, both leagues now have 15 teams, ensuring an Interleague Matchup every week. This will add to the interesting matchups on the schedule week to week, so we intend on highlighting some of those games each week. Take yourself out to the ballgame!
