MLB Roundup: Week 3

A quick look around baseball to see who’s hot, and who’s not!

The Major League baseball season is a six-month grind. Hot starts fade, teams stumble and rebound, and trend lines shift as sample sizes grow and regress to the mean. Yesterday’s big win is followed by a clunker best forgotten. It’s the beauty of everyday baseball.

Team Trends and Divisional Updates

Who would have guessed that three weeks into the 2024 season, the Cleveland Guardians of all teams would be the best team in baseball, at 17-6? Winners of five straight and eight of their last 10, Cleveland seems to be the epitome of a sum being greater than any of its individual parts. Sure, the ever annoying duo of José Ramírez and Josh Naylor are doing their normal things, but if you asked me to name a single player aside from those two, I wouldn’t have an answer. The Guardians have the best run differential in all of baseball, and while not leading the way in runs scored, they have tallied the same number of runs as the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, who feature the best offense money can buy. Look no further than their best-in-baseball 73 runs allowed through 23 games as reason for their early-season success. Only the Royals and Mariners have a runs-allowed total within 10 of that.

Speaking of Seattle, after getting off to a slow, 6-10 start the red-hot M’s have won six of seven and sit a half-game up on the Texas Rangers for tops in the AL West. Seattle is Top 10 in team ERA+, Top 5 in FIP, and sport the league’s best WHIP (1.067). And if this kid gets it going, watch out!

Over in the AL East, the Bronx Bombers are leading the way at 16-8, a half-game up on the plucky, upstart Orioles. The O’s are 7-3 in their last 10 however, while New York is 5-5. Baltimore also sports a better run differential and have scored 26 more runs. With the Tampa Bay Rays struggling at 12-13, the AL East is shaping up to be a two-team race.

Top prospect Jackson Holliday may be off to a 2-for-36 start at the plate, but Baltimore’s 130 runs scored is best in the American League and third overall behind only the Braves and D-Backs. They are also tops in baseball with 36 home runs, and in both team OPS+ and total bases. Baltimore’s offense is a force to be reckoned with.

Over on the Senior Circuit, the Atlanta Braves are still the cream of the crop. At 16-6, they trail only the surprise Guardians for the best record in baseball. Their 133 runs scored is topped only by their NL-best +43 run differential. Atlanta is also best in OPS, SLG, and OPS. They can pitch a little, too:

The surprise team of the NL so far is the Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Despite being 5-5 in their last 10 and dropping their last two games to the fading Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brew Crew hold a half-game lead on the Cubs for the division lead. After trading away ace Corbin Burnes, losing closer Devin Williams for the foreseeable future, and letting manager Craig Counsell go to the hated North Siders, Milwaukee looked like a team destined for a rebuild — yet they find themselves in the thick of the early-season division chase.

What the heck is up with the NL West? The mighty Dodgers sit at 14-11 and are 4-6 in their last 10. For all of their high-priced talent, they sit in the middle of the pack in ERA+, FIP, and WHIP, all while being in the Top 10 in earned runs, walks allowed and home runs allowed. The Padres, D-Backs, and Giants all sit at or around .500, with vastly-differing run differentials. What does it all mean? Who knows. FanGraphs now projects the Dodgers to finish at 92-70, good for a .565 winning percentage, and what ho, L.A.’s mark of 14-11 (.560) is right in line with those preseason projections.

Who rode the struggle bus this week?

Last week’s darlings, the Kansas City Royals, followed their 11-6 start with a down week, going 4-4 since our last MLB Roundup. No dis on K.C., as four of eight is certainly better than 1-9 like a certain AL Central foe. A week of .500 baseball for the Royals is more in line with FanGraphs’ 80-82 win/loss projection right now. Still, 14-10 is rather respectable for a team coming off a 100+ loss season in 2023.

Speaking of 100-loss seasons, the 6-19 Miami Marlins look destined to join the 100-loss club for 2024. At 3-7 in their last 10, the Marlins’ -46 run differential is third-worst in all of baseball, and their 131 runs allowed is tied with the Houston Astros for second-worst. Their OPS+ of 66 is second only to the White Sox for dead last. Let’s face it, you get too close to the White Sox on any of these lists, that spells doom.

The Astros are not only riding the struggle bus, but seem to be the ones behind the wheel. At 7-17, they have the second-worst record in the American League. Despite having a Top 5 OPS+, they are the proud owners of the worst ERA+ in all of baseball. Yes, worse than the historically bad White Sox. No one would revel in the Astros demise more than I if it weren’t for the early-season struggles of old friend José Abreu.

The 2020 AL MVP is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million deal with Houston. Father Time can be cruel to even the best of us, and Pito’s days as a productive player seem to be at an end. Sadness.

And now ... we get to the worst team in all of baseball.

The Chicago White Sox are 3-20. They are bad. Everything about them is bad.

The less said about them, the better.

But at least they find ways to lose games in new and fascinating ways.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel for Sox fans.

In Case You Missed It

Get to know the name Jared Jones!

Oh, Hunter ...

And one manager ejection for doing absolutely nothing:

At least it was a Yankee.

Umpiring across baseball has been pretty bad so far in 2024, but that one takes the cake.

Not Good, Not Bad, Just Ugly

The historically bad start continues to find new lows. Watch out Cleveland Spiders, the 2024 Chicago White Sox are coming for your place in the record books!

Ooof.

Check back next week to see what Week 4 has in store!