A notorious "slow starter", Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is having one of the best Aprils not only of his career, but of the majority of MLB players. In the first month of the last 3 seasons, Tex averaged around 84 at-bats. In those ABs, he hit 4 homers in 2008, 3 in '09, and 2 in '10, with 17, 10, and 9 RBIs respectively. In his first 5 games this season, he's already hit 4 home runs and 10 RBIs. So, in about 14 at-bats, he's already matched his average for the entire month. Compared to almost all the other players in the game, he's leading nearly everyone. Now, of course, it's far too early in the season to tout him as an MVP candidate, but if this month, known for being his worse, sees him with this kind of production, it's easy to see him reaching 50 homers or 100 RBIs this season, which would certainly be a big help for a team that has horrendously questionable pitching.
Speaking of outrageous production, Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz has done something that no other player in the history of the game has done. He's hit a home run in every game of the season so far. Now, that's only 4 home runs, but as I said, no other player has hit a bomb in each of the first 4 games of the year. His teammates are also making strong showings that explain why they're the defending AL champs: Ian Kinsler hit a homer in his first 3 games, Josh Hamilton is already building towards having the highest batting average in the league, Neftali Feliz already has 2 saves, and C.J. Wilson has led the rotation to the first 5-0 start for the Rangers since 1996, the first time they made the playoffs. They're sure doing better than their October opponent, the defending World Series champion Giants, who are off to a 1-4 start after a 3-1 series loss to the Dodgers and dropping the first game in a series with the Padres. Aubrey Huff, who led the team in every offensive statistical category last season en route to his first postseason appearance, is 4 for 19 in the first 5 games, with no homers and 4 RBIs. Tim Lincecum had a no-decision in the Opening Day loss against the Dodgers, and the hurlers behind him (Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito and Madison Bumgarner) have all taken the losses, with number 3 starter Matt Cain recording the only win in the starting rotation. While it seems clear that the Texas boys are poised for repeat playoff appearances for the next few years, it seems as if San Francisco's crew is going to have to work their Giant behinds (oh wait, Pablo Sandoval lost 30 pounds this offseason) off to get back.
3 teams have yet to record a single win, and you might be surprised to hear who they are. The Astros, of course, are 0-4, thanks to shoddy pitching and an ineffective lineup. The other 2 teams? The Red Sox (yes, the same Red Sox that signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford in the offseason and were supposed to go 162-0) and the Rays (who won the AL East division twice in the past 3 seasons, and who had nearly every good player grabbed away from them this previous winter). If the season ended today, the AL East winner and AL Wild Card would be...the Orioles and the Blue Jays, respectively. The Yankees, THE YANKEES, are in 3rd place. The Red Sox and Rays, THE RED SOX AND RAYS, are tied with 0 WINS AND 4 LOSSES. If this was September, Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman would be in a bar in Connecticut consoling each other like old friends. I know the revitalized Orioles are supposed to make a splash in the division this year...but this is a little hard to swallow. Carl Crawford has a .133 average. Evan Longoria's on the DL already. Derek Jeter is looking more like the '10 version than the promised '09 version. And the Orioles have scored 17 runs to their opponents' 4? And I thought a Rangers-Giants World Series matchup was odd...
Surprisingly enough, the beginning of the season seems to have quelled most of the talk about Albert Pujols' impending free agency. King Albert only has 1 home run and 3 hits in 18 at-bats in 4 games, but if you think that's an indication of a poor season, you must be a Royals fan, like my mother. Pujols has never hit less than 32 homers and 103 RBIs in any season (while never having more than 93 strikeouts), and is a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate. Considering that, after 10 years of playing, he's somehow just entering his 30's and is therefore in the prime of his career, it's no wonder that even this staunch Yankees fan reveres The Machine as the best player of this generation (yes, that's including fan favorite Alex Rodriguez). I'm just glad we're getting a break from the hullabaloo of contract negotiations and Cards fans starting grassroots movements to rename St. Louis "Pujolstown" and we can just watch him play...until the trade deadline, where there will be a massive resurgence of trade rumors...and then in October, regardless of whether the Redbirds will be playing then or not. And who knows? There's always a chance we'll see Pujols manning first base for the Cubs next year (when I referenced this in a post a few months ago, I actually got a hate message from a Cards fan I've never met), but with any luck, St. Louis will borrow enough money from the entire city to fund the next 10 years of Albert's life.
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