Now hold on a minute. That’s not the way it was supposed to go. Early MLB Power Rankings had the Yankees, the Red Sox and the Astros at the top of the heap. After just 5 games, Boston has only racked up one win, the Yankees lost 2 of 3 to the lowly Orioles and Houston has already lost 3 of their 5 games. What’s going on?
Obviously it’s way too early to draw any lasting conclusions to these wacky opening series of games. We still have 140 something games to go! However, it is a bit puzzling how things could start off so upside down.
Recalling last season, the Dodgers started off 16-26 and spirits were lower that Chavez ravine. They ended up 92-71 and won the National League pennant.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets got off to a great 11-1 start and ended up winning only 71 games and losing 85. So let’s not put too much stock in the first few of weeks of major league baseball action.
What did get every ones attention was the Dodgers dropping four straight games to the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Dodgers’ prolific offense sputtered almost to a halt and the expected excellence of the rotation never really solidified as Los Angeles got swept for the first time this year.
Not a lot of bettors wagered for that to happen, especially after the Cardinals had just been beaten 3 out of 4 games by the Milwaukee Brewers. But that’s baseball and obviously we are off on another totally unpredictable MLB season.
The poor Yankees are in a hospital zone early on this year. In mid April they have 12 players on the IL (formally the DL). The latest causality is catcher Gary Sanchez who is now out with a left calf strain, which, for a catcher, is a shut down injury.
No one had any optimistic projections for the Mariners, but here they sit at 13-2. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Seattle baseball, but someone forgot to tell the Mariners.
The Houston Astros were predicted to be a powerhouse in the American League West, but, 15 games into the season, the Astros trail division leading Seattle by 4 games.
Las Vegas oddsmakers still show the Astros having an 83% chance to reach the post season while the Mariners are only at 54%. But it’s a long season with lots of great baseball games left to play. Anything can happen before September rolls around again, so enjoy the ride!
