Taking Stock of the MLB: Who Would Have Thought...

Who would have thought on May 25...

That David Ortiz would have one homer in 154 at-bats, would be slugging .299 and left eight runners on base yesterday while going 0 for 5. He is also hitting .161 for the month of May.

That the Padres would have the current longest winning streak in the majors with a nine-game streak and the  Dodgers still would hold a seven-and-a-half game lead in the NL West, despite the Manny Ramirez suspension.

That the Blue Jays would hold the lead in the AL East for so long only to have a six game losing streak and letting the Red Sox take over first place.

That Alex Rodriguez would be hitting .189 after his first 16 games this season with only ten hits but with seven of them being home runs and one being a double and driving in 13 runs.

That the Cubs would have the longest current losing streak of seven in the majors and would be 14th in the NL in hitting with a .243 batting average and also 23rd in the majors with runs scored with 187 runs.

That the White Sox would be tied for last in the AL in hitting .243 and tied with the Athletics and would be 28th in the majors in runs scored with 167 with only the Padres with 166 runs and the Giants with 164 having scored fewer runs.

That the Rangers who lead the majors in homers with 73 would have 49 more homers than the last place Giants with 24.

That Carl Crawford with 28 stolen bases by himself has more stolen bases than 14 major league teams and seven more than the Brewers and Braves combined.

That the Tigers who were tied for last place in the AL Central on this date last season with 21-29 record and six a half games behind the first place White Sox would be in first place with a three game lead over the Royals one year later.

That the Phillies would be in first place despite Jamie Moyer having a 7.62 ERA, Joe Blanton at 7.11 and Chan Ho Park with a 6.88 ERA. And also despite Brad Lidge who had 41 saves in 41 save opportunities in 2008 but has blown four saves in 12 opportunities this season and has an ERA of 9.15 after a 1.95 ERA last season.

That Raul Ibanez would be leading the majors in homers with 17, would be leading the NL in RBI’s with 43. That he would be leading the majors in total bases with 122 and also leading the majors in slugging with a .739 mark.

That the Pirates who were 11-7 on April 26 have reverted back to their old ways and have been 9-17 since then and are 20-24 now.

That the Pirates who didn’t have to travel far on their getaway day after playing the White Sox yesterday in Cellular Field would have a short trek to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field to play the Cubs today.

That Cliff Lee who won the AL Cy Young Award with a 22-3 record last season is 2-5 after the first quarter of the 2009 season. That he has eight consecutive quality starts and only two wins to show for them. That he didn’t win when he gave up two hits in eight innings, no runs in eight innings, three runs in seven innings and and one run in eight innings.

That he also lost when he gave up two runs in eight innings and three runs in six innings.

That Zack Greinke would be leading the majors in ERA with a 0.82 mark and that Wandy Rodriguez would be third with an ERA of 1.83.

That Brett Myers with 15 homers allowed is on a pace to allow 60 homers in 2009.

That Ian Kinsler and Mark Reynolds with 10 stolen bases and 12 homers are on a pace to steal 40 bases and hit 48 homers.

That Torii Hunter is the only other player with a chance for a 30-30 season with eight stolen bases and 10 homers.