It's still pretty early in the season, but some trends may be emerging in the long horse race that is an HBD season. Ranked roughly by expected winning % and sorted vaguely into types of horses:
Top-Of-The-Line Thoroughbreds - these teams have broken fast from the gate and appear to be the class of the field, although it's still early:
Kansas City: good pitching + 3rd in AL runs + .993 Fielding % = #1
Houston: champs started slowly but are now riding a W7
Boston: can't ignore the 19-7 start; SP Sherry Gray - 3-1, 2.38 ERA
Milwaukee: tops in NL in runs with a lineup full of pseudo-SS's
Montreal: Jim Colin (3-2, 1.54), Matty James (3-1, 2.16) and Mel Durham (3-2, 2.36) have pitched 46% of their innings
Tampa Bay: expected winning % padded by recent 23-7 and 32-1 wins over Jays, but they're solid across the board
More Than A Touch Of Class - could still easily prove themselves among the elite as the season progresses:
Washington D.C.: 3-6 record in 1-runners looms overly large at the point; still the prohibitive favorite for their 7th straight Division crown
Arizona: Sluggers Hawkins (10HR) and Sodowsky (9HR) powering the good start
San Francisco: Breakthrough year? 3 straight seasons of 96+ wins plus a legit ace in Camacho
Chicago White Sox: best pitching staff in both leagues through 26 games
Detroit: while the league ERA has been falling the last couple of years, Detroit's has crept up over 4.00
San Diego: Melvin Charleston still going strong at 34: .304/.383/.441
Minnesota: Who needs starting pitchers? The Twins' top 3 starters (by games started) have pitched only 35% of their innings
Competent Runners - contending is not out of the question, but these horses will likely have some issues to resolve if that's going to happen
Cleveland: 2nd in ERA and 11th in runs scored; I sense a pitching-for-hitting trade at some point
Atlanta: their hitters are better than they've been so far; expect a move up
Pittsburgh: the magic coach will turn back into a pumpkin soon, but next year's looking good
Florida: looking like a return to form after only 1 down year
Colorado: with 3B Fernandez OPSing .645, no promotion for Bacsik?
St. Louis: "except for giving up 14 runs in one loss, playing a lot of close games and winning more than I lose. I'm hoping the bats wake up soon. Wow. Not good." (thanks jclarkbaker)
Oakland: Another team with strong pitching (3.55 ERA) that could use an offense infusion (102 runs - 16th)
Anaheim: OPS vs lefties .841; vs righties .704
Who Knows?
Seattle: HOF? Eswalin Camacho (at age 37) has 211 wins and a 2.91 ERA over 3254 IP
Chicago Cubs: biggest gap between actual winning % (.308) and expected (.482). Coincidentally, 0-7 in 1-run games. This will improve.
Philadelphia: Something wrong with the home cooking? .631 OPS at home; .707 away
Los Angeles: Maybe the West IS that tough - Dodgers are 0-10 versus the West, 9-7 against everybody else
Texas: The rake: 1B Walter Brooks leading both leagues in OPS - 1.182
New York Yankees: Biggest positive gap between actual (.538) and expected (.426)
New York Mets: unexpected L8 has moved them down a lot, but watch for a big move up as Bonilla and Pena settle in
Better-Suited For A Plow
Baltimore: What's up with Flip Harris? Season 28 #1 overall is 1-5, 6.95 ERA in 44 ML innings so far.
Toronto: Anybody home? Zeroed-out staff just gave up 32 and 27 runs to Tampa.
Nashville: Some young talent on the roster, but it's not coming together so far
Ready For The Soap Factory
Cincinnati: this is no reflection on chinchilla, who only took over this mess on 11/11 (and just cobbled together his first winning streak, congrats), but we have to call it the way it is
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