This past weekend, fans rejoiced as baseball made its long-anticipated return. After a long and tumultuous offseason, America's national pastime is back full force with new and improved teams that should make 2011 a great year for the sport.
Only three games have been played, and although it's still very early, certain teams have made strong statements from the get go. At the same time, other teams have shown that maybe they aren't as talented nor as deep as they seem on paper. Either way, Opening Weekend was a lot of fun to watch.
That all being said, let's cut to the chase. What do all fans do after the first few games of the season? Well, they automatically label their team as either big winners or major losers, often flip-flopping on this position as the season goes on.
So, just once, let's take a page from their book. This is where each of the 30 MLB teams stands after opening weekend!
During their season opener against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, it looked as though the Astros could start with a bang and pull off the ultimate upset. After being up 4-0 at one point, the team went into the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-2 lead. Yet, at that point, the team's youth and inexperience showed. Closer Brandon Lyon only got one batter out as he blew the save and gave up three runs on six hits, practically handing the Phillies a 5-4 victory.
The rest of the weekend was not at all kind to manager Brad Mills (pictured at left) and his squad, as Cliff Lee dominated them Saturday in a 9-4 loss. On Sunday, Roy Oswalt pitched six solid innings against his former team as the Phillies won 7-3 and completed the sweep.
Overall, this weekend exposed Houston's inexperience. They are a young team with no true veteran leadership in the clubhouse. To give you all a better idea, starters Wandy Rodriguez and Bud Norris combined for eight innings, 12 earned runs and a 13.50 ERA.
Yes, only three games have been played, and it may be a bit premature to say this, but it's going to be a long season for the Astros and their fans unless they find a way to come together and use their youth to their advantage.
Much like the Astros, the Milwaukee Brewers appeared to be starting the season with a bang. Opening the season in Cincinnati, they led the Reds 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning of their first game. Unfortunately, closer Jon Axford got into trouble and gave up two runs before surrendering a two-out walk off three-run homer to Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez as the reigning NL Central champs won 7-6.
After this game, the Brew Crew never recovered as Cincy took the next two games 4-2 and 12-3. To add insult to injury, All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder went 3-for-10 in the series with no extra base hits. Given how the team has three talented power hitters in him, outfielder Ryan Braun and second baseman Rickie Weeks, this showing is simply unacceptable.
I'm going to be honest. Going into the season, the Brewers were my pick to win the NL Central. After their showing this past weekend, it may be time to rethink that opinion.
Yes, the team is missing a strong lineup presence in outfielder Corey Hart, who is on the 15-day-DL with a strained oblique, but that alone should be reason for the rest of the team to step up their efforts while both Hart and newly acquired pitching ace Zack Greinke work their way back. Otherwise, manager Ron Roenicke (pictured at left) is going to have quite a dilemma on his hands in his first season at the helm.
This weekend, the Tampa Bay Rays learned just how dependent their lineup was on outfielder Carl Crawford, who left the team for a new contract with the Boston Red Sox. The team was swept by the Baltimore Orioles in three games and outscored 12-3.
New acquisitions Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez were essentially non-factors, as Damon went 0-for-8 with three strikeouts and Ramirez went 1-for-12.
The worst blow, however, was the loss of All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria. In the second game of the series, he left the game after one at bat with a strained oblique. Today, he was placed on the 15-day-DL and is expected to be out for three weeks.
Needless to say, the Rays may have been exposed. Crawford was a huge presence in that lineup for years, and he is now gone and near-impossible to replace. Unless the Rays can find a way to win and score runs without him, they can forget about another AL East crown.
Going into the 2011 season, the Boston Red Sox were the favorites to win the AL Pennant. Team management had acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres and signed free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford to a long-term contract, seemingly making them the team to beat in the American League. Based on Boston's performance and decision-making over the first three games, the team looks like anything but a contender.
Against the Rangers in Arlington, the Red Sox were outscored 26-11. The pitching staff gave up 11 home runs. The starting pitchers themselves were horrendous, giving up 18 earned runs in three games and posting a 12.07 ERA.
Even worse, it appears that manager Terry Francona and his coaching staff have already gone into panic mode. After going 0-for-7 with four strikeouts, the first two games, Carl Crawford was moved from the third to the seventh spot in the lineup for Sunday's game. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI, but it was still a premature move.
Long story short, the Red Sox have been proven human. I said all offseason that after Jon Lester, the starting pitching was a huge question mark and that even the offense was iffy. Based on moving Crawford down in the lineup, it's obvious that the team is already in "MUST CATCH THE YANKEES...MUST CATCH THE YANKEES" mode. All in all, typical impatience that the team has shown for years.
Call me a hater all you want, but this is the last thing the Red Sox needed to start the season. Fans can say all they want about how this weekend was a fluke, but the team has a lot of work to do if they want to compete with the Yankees at Fenway this coming weekend.
The Angels began the season with a four-game set on the road against the Kansas City Royals. Given the experience and playing style of the Halos, most anticipated that they would make short work of the inexperienced KC squad. Instead, quite the opposite happened.
After winning the first game 4-2, the Angels dropped the next three games. Even worse, all three losses came at the hand of the team's bullpen, including a 12-9, 13-inning loss yesterday that ended on a walk-off homer by veteran backup catcher Matt Treanor. For a team that has been so consistently good season after season, this opening weekend was not a pretty sight.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia (pictured at left, in background) relies a lot on great pitching and small-ball offense to win games. Yet, that formula cannot be successful without a top-notch bullpen. If this weekend is any indicator of what to expect from the Angels' relief pitching, baseball season in Anaheim will be anything but heavenly.
If there were a "Team With The Most Heart" award given out at the end of each season, the Minnesota would win fairly regularly. It seems that season after season, they always go on a second-half push and win the AL Central or come close to it. This weekend, however, the team's heart appeared to be flatlining.
Against the Toronto Blue Jays, the reigning AL Central champions were outscored 22-8 over three games, two of which they lost. The pitching was below average and the offense anemic. The "M&M Boys," also known as catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau, went for a combined 2-for-17 at the plate.
Next on Minnesota's schedule is a four-game series with the New York Yankees in the Bronx. If they want a remote shot at competing this week, both offense and pitching need to wake up before the type of performance seen this past weekend becomes a trend.
Year after year, the Chicago Cubs just cannot seem to catch a break. Yet, despite not winning a World Series for over 100 years, fans seemed to be optimistic this season after team management acquired pitcher Matt Garza and first baseman Carlos Pena. This weekend, however, it appears that veteran presence in the lineup and new acquisitions mean nothing.
The Cubs lost two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates, long labeled as the underachievers of the MLB. All three games were close, but the Pirates proved to be the better team as they rallied in the ninth inning of Sunday's game and won 5-4.
All in all, I'm going to call this weekend a fluke for the Cubs. They are better than they performed, but history works against them in the fact that they always seem to underachieve down the stretch.
Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. In a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers to start the season, the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants outscored Dodger Blue 19-13. Still, they dropped three of four.
Basically, the offense is to blame for the most part. Save for a 10-0 shutout on Saturday, the Giants were quiet with the bats during the other three games. Say all you want about their good young pitching, but it means nothing without run support.
Long story short, the Giants cannot expect to make another run at a title just on heart alone, as they seemed to do last year. It's a new season and thus time to show that last year wasn't just luck. For that to happen, the offense must be more patient and focus on providing better support for Tim Lincecum & Co.
It may seem easy to write off the Nationals as perennial losers, yet that would be wrong. Yes, the team dropped two of three to the Atlanta Braves this weekend, but they showed promise the first two games. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be shocked to see the Nationals contend for a playoff spot two or three years from now.
Yet, this is the 2011 season we are talking about, and the facts must be faced. Top pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg is out for the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and the lack of his talent leaves a gaping hole in the rotation. The latter half of the lineup is extremely hit or miss as of now, and fans can only hope that they consistently produce as the season progresses.
Still, the team as a whole seems to respond well to manager Jim Riggleman (pictured at left). He motivates them to do well despite being outmatched most of the time, and sometimes the Nats pull off amazing upsets. Overall, they should be fun to watch both this year and for years to come once Strasburg and Bryce Harper are regulars.
Even before it started, Cardinals fans knew that the 2011 season was going to be a long one. At the start of spring training, pitcher Adam Wainwright hurt his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery, thus ending his season. On top of that, there is the looming possibility that All-Star first baseman and perennial MVP-candidate Albert Pujols might not be back next year, as this is the final year of his contract.
To add insult to injury, outfielder Matt Holliday (3-for-4 on Opening Day) had an emergency appendectomy on Saturday and is out indefinitely. Even though he was present for one game, the Cardinals dropped two of three to the San Diego Padres to start a season marred with uncertainty.
If the team wants to return to the playoffs, they must not let the future become a distraction. Otherwise, the season is as good as over for them.
In their opening series against the New York Mets, the Marlins made a statement in the first game as they won 6-2. Yet, during the next two games, they did not look the same. They lost 6-4 in 10 innings on Saturday and were blown out 9-2 on Sunday.
Given, the team was without talented outfielder Mike Stanton those two games, as he had a tight hamstring and was benched for precautionary reasons. That being said, it's extremely hard to win without a bat that can hit well consistently when the best man to replace it is Emilio Bonifacio. On top of that, pitcher Javier Vazquez's performance on Sunday showed that he is, perhaps, no longer the strikeout artist and innings eater he was two seasons ago.
The fact is that the Marlins have the talent to contend, yet always let precaution get the best of them. Benching Stanton might have been a good idea in the long run, but he couldn't have pinch-hit? Regardless, the Fish need to start proving to the fans and the city of Miami that they are worth that new stadium that's being built.
Year after year, the Detroit Tigers are expected to contend. Yet, the same thing seems to happen every year. The team shows potential, but cannot keep up with the top teams in the American League and underachieves down the stretch. I hate to say it, but this season will be the exact same.
In their opening series against the New York Yankees, Jim Leyland (pictured at left) and his squad just looked outmatched. They avoided a sweep on Sunday with a 10-7 win, but even in that game, they had to work extra hard to hold the lead.
On top of that, the lineup is hit or miss. The only sure player in it is Miguel Cabrera, and we all know his story. Besides him, the only big bats are an aging Magglio Ordonez and the newly-acquired Victor Martinez, whose success this season is a big question mark as his home stadium will be the pitcher-friendly Comerica Park.
Regarding the team's pitching, the only consistent arm is Justin Verlander. Yet, even he was a little shaky on Opening Day as he needed 114 pitches to get through six innings.
That all being said, do the Tigers have the talent to compete in the tough AL Central? Yes. Will they compete this season? Well, they face the red-hot Baltimore Orioles next, so we will certainly see.
Going into this season, the Indians were not expected to do well. They are a very young team with extremely hit-or-miss pitching, and that just won't spell out success in a division as tough as the AL Central. Yet, this weekend, the Tribe showed signs of life.
On Opening Day against the Chicago White Sox, the Indians lost 15-10. Yes, it's a loss, but it should be noted that from the 6th inning and on, they outscored the White Sox 10-1! They lost the next game 8-3 but avoided a sweep on Sunday as they won 7-1.
That being said, it's still a pretty safe bet that the Cleveland Indians won't make the playoffs this year. Yet, with a young offense led by catching prospect Carlos Santana, Cleveland may see playoff baseball sooner than rather than later. It will be even more interesting to see how the team fares against the Boston Red Sox, who come to town for three games starting Tuesday.
This season, it looked as though the Oakland Athletics were going back to the Moneyball approach used in the early 2000s. Rather than a lineup stacked with effective hitters, the team employed a simple offense while relying on a strong corps of young pitchers for success. In the opening series against the Seattle Mariners, it was learned that offense is more important than originally thought.
The team went toe-to-toe with Seattle most of the weekend, only being outscored 12-11. Yet, the offense only managed four runs over the Friday and Saturday games before winning handily on Sunday, 7-1.
Oakland certainly has the potential to do well this year, but they cannot rely on their pitching to do all of the winning. The presence of Hideki Matsui (pictured at left) in the lineup must be taken advantage of and the offense must learn how to get on base by means other than a walk or getting hit by a pitch. If they can improve that facet of their game, the sky is the limit.
The Diamondbacks' opening series with the Rockies was cut short on Sunday due to rain, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the team looked solid over the course of two games.
On Friday, they won 7-6 in 11 innings, after Colorado came back from a 6-3 deficit. They lost the next game, but the score was only 3-1. That's pretty impressive considering the series was played in Coors Field.
Like many teams in the MLB, the Diamondbacks have the potential to do well. They have a lot of good and young players and will no doubt be contenders in the near future. It might not be this season, but their performance against the Rockies in Opening Weekend is a sign of a bright future.
If I had to pick the one team with the brightest future in the National League, it would be the Colorado Rockies. Their lineup is anchored by two great hitters in Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, and the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field only help that core. These talented bats showed what they could do on Opening Day, coming back from a 6-3 deficit to tie the score against Arizona before losing in extra innings.
The only question mark for the team is the pitching. The pitchers themselves are very talented, but their performance is a season-long crapshoot because of the home ballpark. Yet, the staff proved its ability to hold close leads on Saturday in a 3-1 win.
The Rockies play in the talent-laden NL West, whose division race is sure to be a dog fight until the very end. If the team's lineup and pitching rotation perform consistently well throughout the season, they just might come out on top and make the postseason.
I'd be lying if I said that the Mets were expected to contend this season. Pitching ace Johan Santana is out until the All-Star Break and maybe later, plus outfielder Carlos Beltran is playing on two extremely bad knees. On top of that, outfielder Jason Bay began the season on the disabled list, with a strained ribcage.
Not surprisingly, the team lost to the Florida Marlins on Friday night, 6-2. Yet, the next two games, the Mets exhibited tremendous heart as they outscored the Marlins 15-6, including a win in extra innings.
Chances are that the Mets will come back down to Earth and level out as a third or fourth place team come the All-Star Break. Yet, this performance shouldn't go unnoticed. They play the Phillies next and if they can show the same type of determination we saw this past weekend, then perhaps we might have underestimated the Mets too soon.
Last year, the San Diego Padres went toe-to-toe with the San Francisco Giants for the NL West crown. Sadly, in facing the Giants during the final weekend of the regular season, they lost crucial games and were eliminated. Obviously, they came into 2011 looking to right the ship as they took two out of three from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The team came from behind in Thursday's opener to win 5-3 in 11 innings, and then crushed the Cards on Saturday in a more decisive fashion, 11-3. Third baseman Chase Headley was the star of that game, going 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.
They didn't get the sweep on Sunday as they were shut out 2-0, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that manager Bud Black has a good young squad playing for him. They wanted to start the season with a statement after being robbed of a playoff berth last year, and that's exactly what they did.
As I said before, the NL West is a tough division whose race almost always comes down to the wire. If the Padres can play all season long like they did this weekend, they are surefire contenders to win the West.
From the start of spring training, manager Ned Yost (pictured at left) and his Kansas City Royals were expected to finish dead last just as they had in 2010. Opening Weekend has come and gone, but the Royals are in first place with a 3-1 record. Strange? I think not.
After dropping the home opener 4-2, the Royals battled back each of the next three games. The team's young bats managed to come back against what was believed to be a tough Angels bullpen, including a 13-inning battle yesterday that ended with Matt Treanor's walk-off three-run shot.
It's still early, but this could be a good sign for the Royals. They basically went up against a top team and made short work of them in the later innings. If the team becomes the comeback kids of 2011, then playoff ball just might make its long overdue return to Kansas City. The chances of it happening are slim, but after this weekend, it's only fair that the Royals be ranked this high.
After manager Cito Gaston retired at the end of last season, many wondered what would happen to the free-style, power-hitting oriented offense he employed . This past weekend, new manager John Farrell put those concerns to rest as the Blue Jays squared off against the Minnesota Twins.
In the three-game series, Toronto outscored Minnesota 22-8 as the offense picked up right where it left off last season. Outfielder Jose Bautista (pictured at left), who led the majors with 54 home runs in 2010, went 5-for-11 with two dingers and two RBI, not to mention five runs scored.
Adding on to that was pitcher Kyle Drabek's performance on Saturday. The young phenom took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as he pitched seven strong frames, allowing just one run on one hit while striking out seven.
Needless to say, the Blue Jays looked great this weekend. If they can play the way they did this weekend against their division rivals, then it's more than likely that the AL East crown will be up for grabs.
I know it's beyond a stretch putting last year's AL underachievers in the top 10, but their performance during Opening Weekend impressed me that much. Defying all odds, the young and mostly inexperienced Mariners managed to take two out of three games against the tough pitching staff of the Oakland Athletics.
In the first game, reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez continued his dominance. He threw a full nine ninnings, allowing just two runs on five hits and striking out five. He did not walk a batter.
On the offensive side, 37-year-old Ichiro Suzuki played as though he was 10 years younger. He went 5-for-12 in the series with two RBI and three stolen bases. In putting up those numbers, he also became the Mariners' all-time hits leader.
The chances the Mariners actually contend this year are slim, but this was a good way for them to start the season. Their performance showed that they have put last year's demons behind them and are ready to get back to their primary goal—bringing the playoffs back to Seattle and hopefully, a World Series Championship.
I'm going to say this now before some people get their hopes up. The Pittsburgh Pirates will not make the playoffs in 2011. Yet, their performance against the Cubs this past weekend proved one thing—a new dawn is near in the Steel City.
In a performance that nobody saw coming, the Bucs took two of three from the Chicago Cubs, outscoring them 14-12. The team's pitching was surprisingly good. Paul Maholm, who during spring training, I labeled as a mediocre underachiever, pitched six-and-two-third scoreless innings on Saturday, scattering five hits and striking out three.
Even more impressive was second baseman Neil Walker, who went 4-for-13 with a home run and five RBI this weekend. The home run he hit was a grand slam on Opening Day, and it gave Pittsburgh the lead. In doing that, he became just the second Pirate to hit a grand slam on Opening Day. The only Pirate who did it before him was the great Roberto Clemente.
While this Opening Weekend performance was all well and good, it doesn't mean fans should expect the Pirates to start contending this season. Yet, it was the perfect statement for the young team to make against a more experienced Chicago squad and the rest of the teams in the MLB. That statement is simple:
Opening Day 2011 marked the first time since 1991 that Bobby Cox wasn't at the helm of the Atlanta Braves to start the season. This time, Fredi Gonzalez was running the show. Of course, Braves fans were concerned as most were not used to seeing the team run by someone besides the fearless leader in Cox.
After this three-game series, it's safe to say that the Braves will pick up right where they left off last season and look to get back to the playoffs. They took two out of three from the Washington Nationals, and the one game they lost was a fluke as it was interrupted by rain, and the starting pitchers were both pulled when play resumed.
Outfielder Jason Heyward went 3-for-9 in the series with a home run and two RBI, looking to improve on his solid rookie campaign. In yesterday's game, starter Tim Hudson gave up just one run on three hits over seven strong innings, striking out five as Atlanta won 11-2.
The Braves basically have the same team as they did last year, give or take a couple of players, and they all want the same thing: get back to the playoffs and advance further than the first round. If they gel together all season as they did on Opening Weekend, the Tomahawk Chop will be done in October once again.
The Dodgers opened the season against the defending champions, the San Francisco Giants. It was a much-anticipated matchup—good young hitters against great young pitching. Who would win this showdown?
Well, four games later, the Dodgers are sitting pretty atop the NL West. The pitching was great on both ends, and the Boys in Blue just managed to score more runs when push came to shove.
Outfielder Matt Kemp got off to a strong start, going 5-for-12 with one home run and three RBI and four runs scored in the four games, seemingly putting his off-2010 behind him. Closer Jonathan Broxton picked up three saves.
All in all, if the pitching can be consistent and the key members of the offense stay healthy, the Dodgers could slowly become the team to beat in the NL West. Kemp and teammate Andre Ethier provide a good 1-2 punch in that lineup, and if the rest of the offense contributes its share, Dodger Blue will be one of the playoff colors come October.
This here is something that NOBODY saw coming. At the conclusion of Opening Weekend 2011, the Baltimore Orioles swept the Tampa Bay Rays and were in first place in the AL East with a 3-0 record.
The Birds' pitching looked great as it held the Rays' offense to three runs in three games, and the offense did more than enough as it scored a total of 12 runs. Overall, after Opening Weekend, it seems pretty safe to say that O's fans are feeling cautiously optimistic.
As happy as I am for Buck Showalter's young squad, it might just be a tad early to say they're the real deal. Yes, they swept the reigning AL East champs. However, the Rays were without a key figure of last year's offense in Carl Crawford and also lost Evan Longoria to injury. That being said, while the Orioles deserve a high ranking after Opening Weekend, it would be foolish to jump the gun and immediately label them contenders.
Keep in mind, the team still has to face the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox many times this season. If they can keep those games close and go toe-to-toe with more experienced teams, then the AL East race will truly be one to watch.
On Opening Day, it looked as though the Cincinnati Reds would be defeated handily by the Milwaukee Brewers. A come-from-behind victory later, and they went on to sweep their division rivals and outscore them 23-11.
After Opening Weekend's three-game sweep, the Reds proved that winning the NL Central last year was not just a fluke. The young talent that helped achieve that goal last year is back and running on full cylinders in 2011, looking to win the division again and then some.
If all of the regulars stay healthy and play consistently, I'd say that the Reds have a pretty good chance of being active in the division race all season long. Besides the Brewers, there are so many questions marks surrounding the other teams in the division and their ability to compete. Thus, at this point, it's safe to say that the Reds are in a pretty good place.
Ever since they won the World Series in 2005, the Chicago White Sox have been plagued by one illness—inconsistent offense. The team has had talent, but lack of effective hitting besides first baseman Paul Konerko hampered them down the line. Last offseason, however, GM Kenny Williams not only re-signed Konerko to a three-year deal, but also brought in first baseman/designated hitter Adam Dunn (pictured at left) on a four-year contract.
In Chicago's Opening Day game against the Cleveland Indians, concerns about the offense were put to rest as they won 15-10, even being up 14-0 at one point. They won the next game 8-3 and the offense lagged in yesterday's 7-1 loss, but it was present enough the first two games to establish the White Sox as legitimate contenders in the AL Central.
Dunn put up great numbers in Opening Weekend, going 4-for-10 with a home run and five RBI. His success is the key to the White Sox contending, and if he provides proper protection for Konerko in the lineup, the White Sox will definitely win their division.
Like every team, the White Sox will face some challenges and bumps in the road as the season progresses. Yet, after the way they played this past weekend, it's a certainty that they can make a run for a division title.
Before the 2011 season even began, most already anticipated a year of bumps in the road and underachievement for the New York Yankees, mostly due to aging players and an unpredictable starting rotation. Yet, in three games against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees showed that they still have plenty of gas in their tanks, no matter how old they may be.
Yes, the starting pitching has been rocky at times. This past weekend, the starting pitchers went 1-1 with a 6.55 ERA. Yet, the team still looked great as the relief pitching got the job done handily and the offense always kept the team in the game.
Mark Teixeira, notorious for getting off to slow starts, already has three home runs and seven RBI, and Alex Rodriguez went 4-for-10 over the weekend with a home run and two RBI.
The Bronx Bombers weren't able to get the sweep as they lost yesterday, 10-7. However, they never made it easy for the Tigers in the game and always had a shot at coming back. Plus, it's likely that the outcome of the game MIGHT have been the result of C.B. Bucknor being the home plate umpire. Probably wrong, but the man's track record works against him.
The Yankees start a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins tonight at 7p.m. before going to Fenway for the weekend. If they play with the same attitude that they exhibited over Opening Weekend, 2011 is sure to be a good season for the team and their fanbase.
After losing the World Series last season, the Texas Rangers lost two key players. Pitcher Cliff Lee left for the Philadelphia Phillies, and outfielder/DH Vladimir Guerrero signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Fans were of course concerned. Could the team make another playoff run without those two?
After Opening Weekend, the Rangers have showed that they can indeed still compete with the best teams. They made short work of the Boston Red Sox in three games, outscoring them 26-11 and hitting 11 home runs in doing so.
Second baseman Ian Kinsler and outfielder Nelson Cruz had three dingers apiece, and the pitching kept the dangerous Boston bats in check. That all being said, the Rangers look just as good as they did last season, if not better.
Like the Rockies in the NL West, the Rangers have the advantage of playing in a hitter-friendly park. Thus, the only question mark with them is if their high-octane offense can do the same amount of damage on the road. If it can, then the rest of the AL had better watch out.
I'm going to be honest. After watching the Phillies in spring training and analyzing their roster down to a tee, I was convinced that the team would struggle.
The pitching rotation had good arms, but they were aging. The offense had good hitters, but they too were getting old. Chase Utley going on the disabled list with a knee injury and not having a timetable for a return only further helped my theory.
After this weekend, however, I can say that I have eaten my words. After coming back from a 4-0 deficit and winning on Friday, the Phillies were injected with new life and a ton of momentum which they rode out for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, they made short work of the Houston Astros.
The facts are simple. People can say all they want about how much they hate the Philadelphia Phillies, how bad they're going to be down the road, etc. Yet, there is no denying this: they are easily the deepest team in all of baseball. Come on...you know that your team is good when the man who gets the game-winning hit is John Mayberry, Jr.
At this rate, the Phillies are primed to have a great April. Their next dozen games are against teams in the division, and they should do quite well against them given the depth of their roster. With Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee heading the starting rotation, it's near impossible for this team to do badly.
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