With a small budget and few well-known players, the San Diego Padres have so far been anything but the doormat for NL West teams, which many thought would be their role in the division this season. With a plethora of injuries, the New York Mets have also outperformed expectations so far and have given Mets fans plenty of reasons to buy <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’, ‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’]);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/mlb-tickets/”>MLB tickets</a>. Even the Washington Nationals have gotten off to a hot start and are near the top of the division as we move into the second month of the season. But how many of these teams can keep it going?
As everyone knows, baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint, but there are still plenty of things you can take out of the first month of the regular season. Even in this early part of the season, I think it’s safe to say that the Padres are much better than they were given credit for heading into the season. Everyone knew that first baseman Adrian Gonzalez could mash but the rest of the team was so unproven it was hard to imagine them competing against more polished teams in the division like the L.A. Dodgers or San Francisco Giants. However, with a few nice contributions from young players and consistent pitching, the Padres have been the surprise team of April.
For the Padres, everything begins with their starting pitching. First starter Kevin Correia has been a pleasant surprise for the Padres and has settled into a nice groove in the early going. With a 3.86 ERA and four wins after five starts, the Padres seem to have a relatively unknown pitcher who can sneak up on some teams. The other main reason for their success has been Jon Garland, who had a 2.57 ERA as of April 27th. Though Garland has just two wins, he has strung together quality starts nearly every outing and has kept the Padres in games and won his last two starts after losing his first two.
Gonzalez has also been his usually beastly self in the middle of the lineup, but it has been the development of guys like Chase Headley that has helped the Padres get off to a good start. David Eckstein also has come up with several huge hits late in games, including a walk-off homer in his only round-tripper of the year thus far. While most assumed Gonzalez would be available around the trading deadline, that’s no longer a guarantee.
The Mets have also been a standout team in the first month of the season. With Jose Reyes overcoming injury to get back into the lineup and Jason Bay being very inconsistent, the Mets have still been very competitive and started the season 13-9. As of April 27th, they were even above the Philadelphia Phillies in the rankings, a team that has been touted as the best in the National League in a long time. Starter Mike Pelfrey has been nothing short of spectacular so far, going 4-0 with a microscopic 0.69 ERA in his first four starts of the season. Johan Santana doesn’t have the blazing fastball he used to have but has pitched very well to start the season. If they can get Carlos Beltran back sometime in the middle of the season, the Mets could stay in the playoff hunt all season long.
While the Nationals also deserve some kudos for their good start, the other surprising team has to be the Tampa Bay Rays. Even though their talent wasn’t overlooked heading into the season, nobody expected the start they have gotten off to. Backed by a formidable lineup and a very strong pitching rotation, the Rays won 16 out of their first 21 games and already have Boston Red Sox fans very nervous in terms of their playoff outlook. The Rays have the type of well-rounded team that could be very scary in the postseason and have scored 59 more runs than their opponents in their first 21 games; the second best run differential in the league is a three-way tie at +33.
It will be interesting to see which of these teams can keep up their hot starts, but the Padres, Rays and Mets have already given their fans plenty to cheer about in the first month of the season. Don’t expect them to go away any time soon.
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