MLB Power Rankings 2012: Most Surprising Early-Season Trends

Jun 4, 2018

It's still a little early in the MLB season for any of us to draw any definitive conclusions about how the year is going to play out.

But I'll be darned if some noticeable trends aren't starting to develop.

Some of them aren't very surprising. Nobody should be shocked that Matt Kemp is looking like the best baseball player in the world, nor should anybody be surprised that the Cardinals are the best offensive team in baseball despite not having Albert Pujols.

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There are, however, some early-season trends that I suspect none of us saw coming. I'm going to point a few out as I run down my Power Rankings for this week.

1. Texas Rangers (8-2, Previous No. 3)

It comes as no real surprise that the Rangers are knocking the cover off the ball in the early goings. What is slightly more surprising is the fact that they're tied for the league lead with seven quality starts. Kinda calls into question the notion that the best rotation in the AL West belongs to the Los Angeles Angels.

2. Detroit Tigers (7-3, Previous No. 1)

The Tigers are also knocking the cover off the ball in the early goings, and they've gotten some truly outstanding pitching from Justin Verlander. He's picked up right where he left off. However, only he and Rick Porcello have won games as starters for the Tigers. Reliever Duane Below leads the Tigers with two wins despite having only pitching 2.2 innings so far this season.

3. St. Louis Cardinals (7-3, Previous No. 5)

I mentioned above that nobody should be surprised that the Cardinals are mashing the ball without Albert Pujols, and this is true. Nevertheless, even I'm shocked that the Cardinals are leading baseball in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. That's scary.

4. Washington Nationals (8-3, Previous No. 11)

I was surprised that relatively few people bothered to notice how good Washington's pitching looked before the start of the season. Entering Tuesday, the Nats are tops in baseball in ERA and opponents' batting average. They look like the best team in the NL East, and they're not even at full strength.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers (9-1, Previous No. 14)

The Dodgers have the reigning NL Cy Young award winner in Clayton Kershaw, but Chad Billingsley has been their ace so far this season. His primary numbers speak for themselves, but the number that caught my eye was this one: Billingsley has a LOB percentage of 100.

6. Arizona Diamondbacks (7-3, Previous No. 4)

The Diamondbacks are going to contend for the NL West crown this year because of their starting pitching, but so far this year, it's their bullpen that is stealing the show. Their bullpen ERA of 2.23 is tops in the National League.

7. New York Yankees (5-5, Previous No. 7)

I'm giving the Yankees the benefit of the doubt for their moderately slow start. I'll just say that Derek Jeter has been amazing, as he's hitting .378 with three home runs and seven RBI. He hit six home runs all of last year.

8. Philadelphia Phillies (5-5, Previous No. 8)

For all of our whining about their offense, the Phillies are actually 10th in the league in team batting average right now. Runs have been hard to come by, but the hits are coming.

9. Tampa Bay Rays (5-5, Previous No. 2)

We don't tend to think of the Rays as an overly patient ballclub. Right now, they're ninth in baseball in on-base percentage. They're 16th in team batting average. Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena have combined for 20 walks.

10. Los Angeles Angels (4-6, Previous No. 6)

Albert Pujols is hitting .268 with a .366 slugging percentage. He'll snap out of it, but it's more than a little concerning that Bobby Abreu has a higher slugging percentage than Pujols does. Abreu's power has long since evaporated.

11. New York Mets (7-3, Previous No. 17)

The Mets haven't gotten a whole lot of offense this year, which was expected. What none of us expected was that the Mets would be third in baseball in team ERA right now. Their team ERA is a microscopic 2.33.

12. Atlanta Braves (5-5, Previous No. 18)

What surprises me about the Braves so far is how two of their young stars are performing. Jason Heyward is off to a hot start, as he's hitting .375 with a .656 slugging percentage. Freddie Freeman is hitting a Dan Uggla-like .162 with a .189 slugging percentage.

13. Boston Red Sox (4-6, Previous No. 15)

David Ortiz is leading the American League in batting average at .410. Remember when we all thought he was washed up? Seems funny now.

14. Miami Marlins (4-6, Previous No. 19)

The Marlins are tied for first in quality starts despite the fact Josh Johnson is 0-2 with an ERA over 8.00. If he figures things out, watch out for the Marlins.

15. San Francisco Giants (4-6, Previous No. 10)

It's all about Big Tim Timmy Jim's slow start. He's 0-2 with an ERA over 10.00, and opponents are hitting better than .340 off him. That's not good.

16. Chicago White Sox (5-4, Previous No. 22)

Remember when Adam Dunn hit a home run on Opening Day and everyone celebrated? Well, he hasn't hit one since, and he's already up to 16 strikeouts on the season. So much for his bounce-back season.

17. Milwaukee Brewers (4-6, Previous No. 13)

Milwaukee's bullpen was supposed to be one of its primary strengths this season. As of right now, Brewers relievers have a 4.32 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. Suffice it to say, they haven't been very good, and John Axford's 10.13 ERA isn't helping matters.

18. Cincinnati Reds (4-6, Previous No. 9)

I figured the Reds would get mediocre pitching this season, and so far, they have. What I didn't expect was that they would be so hopeless on offense. The Reds rank near the bottom of the league in each major offensive category.

19. Baltimore Orioles (6-4, Previous No. 23)

I'm not buying Baltimore's hot start, but you have to respect a team that can be fifth in baseball in runs scored while also being among the league leaders in strikeouts.

20. Toronto Blue Jays (5-4, Previous No. 16)

The Blue Jays have gotten some pretty great pitching in the early goings, but I can't help but wonder if their pitching should be even better. The Jays are seventh in team ERA despite holding batters to a .199 average, second-best in the majors.

21. Seattle Mariners (6-5, Previous No. 21)

The 2012 Mariners are performing a lot like the 2011 Mariners in many ways. The early standout in Seattle this season is Brandon League, who has four saves and a 0.00 ERA.

22. Cleveland Indians (4-4, Previous No. 25)

The Indians went out and signed Johnny Damon to give their offense a boost, but their offense may not need said boost. The Indians rank in the top six in baseball in runs, OBP and slugging.

23. Houston Astros (4-6, Previous No. 24)

The Astros have a bullpen ERA under 3.00. Last year, their bullpen ERA of 4.49 was the worst in the National League.

24. Colorado Rockies (4-6, Previous No. 28)

The Rockies rank in the top 10 in runs scored, batting average and slugging percentage. They rank 26th in ERA, 27th in WHIP and 28th in opponents' batting average. Yup, they're the Rockies.

25. Minnesota Twins (3-7, Previous No. 30)

The Twins have a higher team batting average than the Red Sox, Rangers and Yankees. If that doesn't make you LOL, I don't know what will.

26. Chicago Cubs (3-7, Previous No. 27)

Alfonso Soriano is hitting .313 with a .313 slugging percentage. All 10 of his hits have been singles.

Hey, at least he's hitting over .300.

27. Oakland Athletics (4-7, Previous No. 29)

The A's rank 29th in runs, batting average, OBP and slugging. I find that to be convenient...though not entirely surprising.

28. Pittsburgh Pirates (3-7, Previous No. 20)

Meanwhile, the Pirates rank dead last in baseball in all those same categories. It's a good thing their team ERA is 2.86.

29. Kansas City Royals (3-7, Previous No. 12)

The Royals have lost five in a row, but let's focus on a positive. Bruce Chen is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Well done, Mr. Chen.

30. San Diego Padres (3-8, Previous No. 26)