Early impressions that are turning heads
Just one week into the season, there’s loads that’s going in line with plan (the Braves look improbable) and loads that isn’t (why are some Cardinals already arguing with the supervisor)? It’s clearly too early to start out drawing any agency conclusions — by mid-June we could have all forgotten any of this ever occurred — so one should be cautious to not get carried away.
But! But! It is value retaining in thoughts that there have been all kinds of huge questions going through every crew, and even some particular person gamers, heading into the season. If you had been in search of any early indicators or proof that these questions will probably be answered in a optimistic method, properly, you’re in luck.
Looking for encouraging first-week indicators? Here are seven positives we’ve seen up to now.
They waved goodbye to Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner, they usually misplaced Gavin Lux to harm in Spring Training. The Dodgers are doomed! How will they ever get better? It seems that the crew’s decade-long plan to strengthen its depth was one, as a result of L.A. nonetheless has high quality hitters in every single place. Whether it’s resurgent veterans like Trayce Thompson or Jason Heyward, stars like Mookie Betts or Will Smith, or promising children like James Outman and Miguel Vargas, the Dodgers are scoring identical to they at all times have. Better, really. Entering Wednesday, they ranked fourth within the Majors in runs per sport, first in homers and walks and second in OPS. Worried about their offense? Don’t be.
Everybody is aware of how terrific the Brewers’ pitching is. That’s the rationale everybody takes Milwaukee as severely as they do, in any case. But whereas the hitting was just a little higher in 2022 than most individuals suppose, for what it’s value, it nonetheless was the crew’s largest concern this season, with Christian Yelich not wanting like an MVP candidate and a bunch of different query marks. Well, one week in, the Brewers have one of many high offenses within the National League. And the manufacturing is coming from some unlikely locations, from the abruptly Ruthian Brian Anderson (who was non-tendered by the Marlins final November) to rookies Joey Wiemer, Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell. Wait till Yelich, Rowdy Tellez, Willy Adames and William Contreras get going. The Brewers are in first place within the NL Central proper now — and it’s not due to their pitching.
The Twins clearly knew they’d a difficulty with their beginning employees heading into the offseason. They traded Luis Arraez, one among their hottest gamers, to herald Pablo López to move up their rotation. Carlos Correa made all of the headlines by staying (finally), but it surely was the acquisition of López that signaled what the Twins (and most of the remainder of us) had been involved about. Well, up to now so good, to say the least. The Twins, till an unsightly eighth inning on Wednesday afternoon, had the bottom ERA in baseball. That’s a wonderful method to get off to a 4-2 begin, with a kind of losses a 1-0 shutout by the hands of reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara. (Maybe we should always have been extra involved concerning the offense, really.) López has been a transparent standout, giving up just one whole run over his first two begins, whereas Kenta Maeda’s stellar return from Tommy John surgical procedure on Tuesday was one other vibrant spot.
It’s not that Franco was dangerous for the Rays final yr — removed from it. He was absolutely extra productive than any of the remainder of us had been at something after we had been 21. But he wasn’t fairly the franchise-changing celebrity most of baseball was anticipating him to be, the one which impressed the Rays to signal him to an extension that runs via a minimum of 2032. Apparently turning 22 final month made all of the distinction. Franco’s tearing the duvet off the ball early, slugging .792, hitting .417 and, maybe most impressively, strolling greater than he’s hanging out. If he has turned the nook and turn out to be that MVP candidate we thought was coming, it might change the contours of your entire AL East race.
For all the thrill of the whole lot the Braves have executed over the past two years, it’s been a little bit of a bummer to see how little Acuña — who was definitely primed to be the centerpiece of this crew for a decade or extra — has gotten to be part of it. The knee harm that value him the 2021 World Series run was nonetheless clearly just a little little bit of an issue in 2022. He was by no means fairly was the transcendent celebrity we had glimpsed earlier than. Well, now Acuña is as wholesome as he’s been since earlier than the harm, and we’re seeing the outcomes. He’s launching homers, he’s stealing bases, he’s unleashing that million-dollar arm to throw out speedsters on the plate — it’s the complete Acuña expertise. Imagine the Braves of the previous few years, however with one of many 5 greatest gamers in baseball rediscovering his well being and reaching his peak type. Look out.
You’ve heard the debates about Jordan Walker vs. Anthony Volpe long-term, however within the short-term, for all the thrill about each gamers, it’s fairly vital that they can assist their groups proper now. The Cardinals and the Yankees are attempting to win a World Series this yr, in any case, one thing mirrored in the truth that each top-five prospects made Opening Day rosters. While neither is atop any leaderboards but, it’s clear neither of them are going wherever. Walker is the one Cardinals outfielder — in a crowded, continuously rotating forged — to have began each sport up to now, and he launched his first homer on Wednesday afternoon. And Volpe has drawn rave after rave from his Yankees teammates as a man who was prepared from Day 1, one thing the Yankee Stadium crowd clearly agrees with. We’ll be watching them be stars for years to return.
