MLB's Week 1 Winners and Losers
A full business week is just about in the books.
The Major League Baseball season is in full swing, and we have seen enough to knee-jerkingly call some teams good, some teams bad and some teams mysteries. We also have enough information to make less snappy judgments about which teams, players and trends fared well or poorly since last Sunday.
While we aren’t a full week into the season quite yet, we can still call it something along the lines of MLB’s Week 1 winners and losers, if you will.
After all, what is the game’s first week without us declaring such things? So, here we go.
Winner: Detroit Tigers
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This goes for the club as a whole, top to bottom. Even the bullpen.
The Tigers came into this week as favorites in the American League Central, and winning it would give them five consecutive division titles. Still, few could foresee these first five games, all victories.
The Tigers allowed five runs combined in their first four games, and it started with consecutive shutouts against the Minnesota Twins. In fact, Tigers pitching did not allow an earned run for the first 24 full innings of the season, and the first run it did give up was unearned.
The offense scored 22 runs in that first set, resulting in an outstanding plus-21 run differential. Since then, that differential has risen to plus-28. The Tigers currently lead the majors in runs scored (39), hits (67), triples (four), batting average (.364), OBP (.433) and OPS (.971). They are second in walks (24) and slugging percentage (.538).
Early-season detractors could cry that they did damage against the lowly Twins. So to counter the argument, the Tigers went into Cleveland and put it on the Indians, a chic pick to make the playoffs this fall, twice in two days before Sunday’s finale.
Shortstop Jose Iglesias, whom the Tigers are counting on to remain healthy and productive this season, is off to a torrid start. He is hitting .600/.625/.667 (9-for-15) with a 1.292 OPS and zero strikeouts. Newcomer Anthony Gose, whom the Tigers traded for in November, is hitting .450/.450/.800 (9-for-20) with a 1.250 OPS, two doubles, a triple and a home run from the leadoff spot. Ian Kinsler is hitting .455/.480/.591 (10-for-22) with a 1.071 OPS and a team-high seven RBI.
This is promising because the Tigers would like to avoid completely relying on Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez for all their offense, though those two are doing their parts as well.
And while the highly questionable bullpen is dealing with injuries and blew a lead against the Indians on Saturday, it went into that game having allowed one earned run in 7.1 innings while striking out eight and walking one.
Loser: Washington Nationals
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When the Nationals signed Max Scherzer in January, they had the makings of a superteam. On paper, of course.
Since then, injuries have hit fast and hard, obliterating the team’s projected first three hitters in the batting order—Denard Span, Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth. This week, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies have piled on.
A team that many predicted to win near 100 games this year has started the season 1-4, with the first three games at home. Those injuries have contributed to the entire offense taking the first week off.
While the team’s strength—starting pitching—has lived up to its billing, the offense is last in the National League in runs scored (nine), batting average (.183), OBP (.239) and next to last in OPS (.544) and hits (30). It has also struck out 48 times, the third-highest total in the league.
After the weekend series against the Phillies, things will toughen up for the pitching staff as the Nationals go into Fenway Park to face a Red Sox lineup that is fourth in the majors in runs and first in walks.
Winner: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Talk about someone starting his MVP candidacy quickly.
Adrian Gonzalez became the first player in major league history to hit five home runs in his team’s first three games, which included a three-homer game Wednesday. Those three home runs were part of a sequence in which Gonzalez homered in four consecutive plate appearances, the 23rd player ever to do so.
His five total home runs are more than all but two National League teams.
Gonzalez’s power binge subsided during his first two games in Arizona—Friday and Saturday—but he still reached base with a couple of hits and four walks. He went into Sunday hitting .667/.727/1.611 with a cartoonish 2.338 OPS.
“I'm a streaky hitter,” Gonzalez told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. “When I'm feeling good, I hit like this—well, maybe not like this, but close.”
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Loser: Chicago White Sox
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After an offseason filled with a blockbuster trade and significant free-agent signings, the White Sox figured to be a team on the rise. And after losing 99 games two seasons ago, this was a team that, on paper, looked ready to make a postseason push.
That is why it was surprising to see the White Sox go winless in their first four games of the season, getting swept by the Kansas City Royals and not picking up their first win until Saturday against the Minnesota Twins, a team predicted to finish last in the division.
Even though the offense managed only seven runs in those first four games, the bigger concern was the team’s pitching. It allowed 27 runs in those losses, all but one earned, and surrendered six home runs, including five to a Royals team that finished last in the majors in the category last season.
Jeff Samardzija, who was the main piece of the blockbuster trade with Oakland over the winter and is playing team ace until Chris Sale returns from a foot injury, has allowed nine runs in his first 13 innings.
Winner: Atlanta Braves Bullpen
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After an offseason of trading away valuable pieces, including right up until Opening Day when they shipped out baseball’s best closer in Craig Kimbrel, few believed the Braves were capable of contending in 2015.
A week into the season, they are challenging that sentiment. And their bullpen is a major reason why, even without Kimbrel and his major league-leading 186 saves and 11.2 wins above replacement, via Fangraphs, among relievers since 2011.
Atlanta’s relievers have not allowed a run in 18 innings, and they have struck out 21 while walking three. Opponents are hitting .088 against them.
Making the numbers more impressive, the bullpen has entered four of its five games with a one-run lead, a tie, another tie and a three-run lead with the bases loaded and nobody out. That is 14 high-leverage situations in which the relievers have not been scored on.
Loser: Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
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It didn’t take long for Yasiel Puig to earn his first benching last season after showing up late for the Dodgers' home opener, causing him to be scratched from the lineup. And this year, it again did not take long as Puig was benched Saturday. This time, it was for ineffectiveness.
Puig, who was eighth in Fangraphs WAR and 10th in Baseball-Reference WAR last year, is off to a 2-for-17 start. He has struck out six times and walked once.
Those numbers prompted manager Don Mattingly to sit Puig in the team’s second game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I think Yas looks a little frustrated, honestly,” Mattingly told reporters Saturday. “More than anything, probably just trying too hard to get a hit.”
Winner: Kansas City Royals
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Dissecting the Royals’ early-season success gives us a clear picture of how they have gotten off to a 5-0 start—everything is going right.
The rotation has a 2.60 ERA after allowing 13 runs in its first 45 innings. Those were highlighted by Edinson Volquez’s impressive eight-inning, one-run team debut against the Chicago White Sox.
The offense, which was at times a soft spot for the team in 2014, has been a force, scoring 31 runs in the first five games. It is second in the American League with eight home runs, a .324 average, .406 OBP, .526 slugging percentage and .932 OPS. It also is tied for the league lead with seven stolen bases, and its 24 strikeouts are the fewest in the league.
The bullpen, which was the team’s strong suit last season, is at it again. It has not allowed a run, earned or otherwise, in 13 innings and has walked only two hitters. Its 0.54 WHIP is the best in the AL, as are its four saves.
The back-end trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland has combined for 10 scoreless innings, striking out 11 and walking one. It is asking a lot for those three to repeat what they did a season ago—they combined for a 1.28 ERA with 258 strikeouts and 69 walks—but they are off to a great start in doing so.
Loser: Mat Latos, Miami Marlins
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Mat Latos was part of the Marlins’ semi-makeover during the winter, but his time with the organization is off to a horrendous start.
He made his team debut Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves and managed to get an entire two outs before he had to be mercifully removed to thunderous boos at his new home park. You can't blame the fans for voicing their displeasure over the seven runs Latos gave up after facing 10 batters, allowing six hits and walking two.
David Schoenfield of ESPN's SweetSpot blog offers up a fairly blunt take on Latos' woeful debut.
"That was it. Thirty-eight pitches, few of them effective. All the hits except one were hit hard. You really felt bad for Latos, who had nothing from the first pitch and was left in to take the pounding. He become the first starter since Paul Byrd of the Phillies in 2000 to fail to get three outs in one of a team's first two games of the season.
It's certainly not a good sign for the Marlins. Latos was an underrated pitcher with the Reds, but had surgery after the 2013 season to remove bone chips from his elbow, then missed time last season after tearing a meniscus in his knee and missed most of September with a bone bruise in his elbow. Overall, his fastball velocity was down 2 mph and his strikeout rate plummeted, in part because of a decline in his swing-and-miss rate. It adds to a pitcher with diminished stuff who looked like a health risk for 2015.
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Latos, 27, appeared to be a budding ace after his age-22 season saw him put up a 2.92 ERA and 9.2 strikeouts per nine over 184.2 innings. However, since then, he has mostly struggled to regain that form.
The Marlins were hoping he would find it in a return to his native area of South Florida, but after one outing, that hope is looking more like a pipe dream.
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