MLB April in Review: Surprise Competitors, Resurgences, and Disappointments

One month of Major League Baseball has been completed, which means it's time to overreact! If your favorite team is losing right now, they are condemned to eternal mediocrity in baseball purgatory. If your team is winning, they are YOUR 2023 World Series Champions. If your team is the Oakland Athletics, the former statement is actually the truth.

Anyways, time to talk about what we've seen so far, and what it means for the rest of the season.

Mediocrity from the heavyweights

Out of the teams I picked to finish highest in their divisions, only one (the Braves) is currently in first place, in perhaps the most hotly contested division in baseball. Oh, but it gets worse! The Yankees (#3 in my power rankings) and the Cardinals (#9) are currently last in their divisions (granted, the Yankees are a game above .500, whereas the Cardinals are an abysmal 10-19). The Astros and Padres both sit above .500, but both are also out of first, which is certainly not the expectation this season. Those two should turn it around, and the Yankees will probably make the playoffs; the Cardinals, however, have to make some dramatic changes quickly.

An underperforming team can be caused by any number of things. The Cardinals can blame pitching for a great many of their struggles; an aging rotation without any real star power is not a reliable recipe for success. Paul Goldschmidt is a light in the darkness for this squad, but it's slowly becoming less of a light and more of a pinprick. Jordan Walker was promptly sent down after an abysmal back half of April, a move that puzzles me immensely. If he's not back by the end of May, you'll know the Cardinals have officially given up.

Surprising starts we should have and never could have predicted

The Tampa Bay Rays rattled off 13 straight wins to start the season, and currently sit comfortably atop the brutal AL East with a 24-6(!) record. That's without ace Glasnow, and with an early season-ending injury to rising starter Jeffrey Springs. Yandy Diaz is hitting the cover off the baseball, but he's doing it with elevation now, which is about as scary as it gets. Randy Arozarena picked up right where he left off in the World Baseball Classic, hitting .325 thus far and doing it with incalculable swagger. The Rays are rolling, somehow, some way, and we all should've known that they would inevitably summon a competitive team out of nowhere.

We could not have predicted, however, the rise of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the current holders of the best record in the NL at 20-10(!!!). After years of absolutely awful baseball, there is hope in the Steel City. Andrew McCutchen (yes, the same Andrew McCutchen that I refrained from dissing because I knew the hometown return might incite a late-career revival) is raking. The young bats are clicking. The young pitchers are cooking. Everything that could have gone right in Pittsburgh has done so thus far. If you're a Bucs fan, enjoy it while it lasts, because this kind of play from this kind of squad is probably not sustainable; nevertheless, there will not be 100 losses in Pittsburgh this season, and that's a huge upgrade regardless. Next stop: October? Probably not. But maybe! (But probably not).

Big pitching acquisitions struggle to see the field

Jacob deGrom has already made his way to the injured list with "inflammation." The Rangers have gotten their money's worth when he has pitched, but it's too early in the season to be dealing with the same old thing considering the amount they're paying him. I would be shocked if this is his last stint on the IL this season.

Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer have also both hit the IL, decimating a top-heavy Mets rotation that has somehow managed to keep them above .500 in the absence of their two aces. 29-year-old lefty Joey Lucchesi is currently playing a large role in that rotation, posting a 1.10 WHIP over three games in April. Kodai Senga has shown a lot of promise, but the struggles have outweighed the flashes thus far. As of now, the Mets are not following their track record of early-season dominance and a late-season collapse; that has a lot to do with the dismantling of their rotation. Verlander and Scherzer should return soon, mercifully.

Carlos Rodon, who was somehow the second-biggest signing for the Yankees this offseason, also has yet to make a start. It's hard to blame the Yankees' mediocrity on one thing, but his absence certainly hasn't helped their cause. At least Gerrit Cole is more than pulling his weight.

Division Roundup

AL East: Five squads with winning records. The Rays lead the pack with that otherworldly record, but the Orioles sit right behind them at 20-9. The Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Yankees all follow close behind.

Current Prediction: Blue Jays take the division, with the Rays and Orioles making the Wild Card.

AL Central: The Twins hold the only winning record and a 3-game lead over the floundering Guardians. I expect that race to come down to the wire, but the White Sox will most certainly not be involved; they've established themselves as a truly terrible team, and I don't see them hoisting themselves out of the many holes they've been digging for years on end.

Current Prediction: Guardians retake the division; no Wild Card spots.

AL West: Could go a million directions, but it's too early to doubt the Astros, even if they aren't playing well at the moment. The Rangers are somehow atop the division, followed by the Angels, Astros, and Mariners.

Current Prediction: Astros take the division, and the Angels barely fend off the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot.

NL East: Braves on top! The Phillies started off slowly, but they are quickly finding their groove; Harper is playing with one arm. The sense of urgency is high in Philly. The Marlins sit in second as of now, but that shouldn't last. The Nats, of course, sit at the bottom, but they aren't the miserable squad most expected them to be.

Current Prediction: Braves win the division, Mets and Phillies grab Wild Card spots.

NL Central: Must've read that wrong. The Pirates?? Surely not. But yes, indeed, the Pittsburgh Pirates are the division leaders in the Central. The Brewers lurk close behind, waiting for the Pirates to return to their true form. The Cubs are alright, but they don't look like a playoff team; the Cardinals are similar right now.

Current Prediction: Brewers win the division, no Wild Card spots as the Pirates fall back to Earth.

NL West: The Dodgers lead the West behind a surging Clayton Kershaw in his 300th year in the league, and a breakout NLROY candidate in James Outman. The Padres are scuffling, sitting just behind a fun Diamondbacks team that will probably not make the playoffs.

Current Prediction: I should say the Padres are going to win, but I am spiteful towards Juan Soto, and I desperately want the Nationals to win the trade. So, the Dodgers win the West, and the Padres nab a Wild Card spot.

Nats content coming soon. Thanks for reading!

Emory