One Month In

So it's been a month or so since I've posted. I'd best say something about where things are, even though just about every individual and even team performance can be branded with the scarlet triple-S of Small Sample Size.  That said, here are things that have got my attention:

Josh Hamilton
- How can you not be watching this guy?  My baseballing heart weeps for the years he lost to substance abuse, because we could be talking about watching HIM chase Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds, not A-Rod.  To put his early-season performance in perspective, according to baseball-reference.com, he has accumulated 2.9 WAR for the season.  That would rank 39th.  Among all 2011 full-season qualifiers.  So a month and a half-ish of Hamilton is roughly equivalent to a full season of 2011 Mark Teixeira, Victor Martinez, or Adam Jones.  It was greater than Jeff Francoeur, Michael Young, and Billy Butler.  He's amazing.

Baltimore Orioles
- Leading the AL East.  Let me say that again, "Leading the AL East".  Granted, only 2 games up of Tampa, NY and Toronto.  But hey, did anyone think they'd have the same record as the Rangers this deep into the season?  Furthermore, they now have two of the top 10 prospects left in the minors in Machado and Bundy.  It may not be permanent; it may not even be for the rest of the year, but maybe, just maybe, this pitching staff, and by extension the team, is starting to put things together.  And it all seems to stem from Jason Hammel.  Yeah, whoda thunk that one?

Mike Trout and Bryce Harper
- The top two prospects from the offseason now up with their respective clubs.  The Angels realized Abreu was a carcass, and the Nats were forced into action with injury issues - Harper's callup was quite unexpected - but here they are.  Harper's here and made plenty of noise for sure, but let's all calm the hype machine down before we anoint him completely.  Granted, he's fun as hell to watch - my MLB.tv is getting a workout around him - but it's just a couple weeks.  As with everything to this point, and with him moreso, it's a small sample.  Slow your roll a bit and check back around Memorial Day, and with him perhaps even the 4th of July.  As for Trout, he's going more unnoticed than Harper, and he's not lighting the world on fire, but he's doing enough for the Angels not to regret promoting him, and buying himself enough time to figure it out.  Trout is the better overall player between the two, but Harper will be more touted.  It may be a Kemp/Hamilton debate of the next generation.  And any team would kill to have any of them.

Boston Red Sox
- Yowza, what a s---show.  There's too much talent here to fail this bad, or so we think.  But we thought so much better of this pitching.  So, so much better.  Second-worst ERA in the league.  Third-worst WHIP.  They're 4th in runs scored, so you'd think they'll turn it around eventually, since that's more likely to sustain than their pitching atrocities, but nothing is certain.  They'll get all the attention and pressure to go with it, so it'll be an interesting carnival to play itself out.  Just gotta wait and watch.

Albert Pujols
-  Ohhh, Albert.  Not much to say here.  He's proving my preseason post correct that there's not much around him.  Sub-mendoza and still only 1 HR to his name, he's the hallmark of why they're bottom-third in scoring.  He's also likely to turn it around, and what a statistical correction it'll be, but for LA it can't come soon enough.

Jake Peavy
- He's back!  The dynamite starter the White Sox thought they were acquiring that hadn't been seen for a few years seems to be poking his head up.  7 starts and 50 innings in, he's sporting a WHIP of 0.8.  That's just a completely ridiculous number for a starter.  Of course, at this point of the season, he's not alone - Jered Weaver and Matt Cain are actually lower - but of the three, Peavy is the one to make you cock an eye.  To this point, his underlying numbers don't point to anything too out of the ordinary for his career, save for a .230 BABIP, so I would like to say I expect a regression to career norms eventually, but studliness of this type is always fun to watch as long as it continues.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis
- Looking like the early leader for NL ROY, he's been the most well-rounded offensive player of this year's rookie class.  Still time for this to be determined by a player not yet called up, or an explosion of Harper-ic proportion, but he's got the head start.  In any case, he's sporting a .379 OBP in 120 PA, and is a big reason for the Mets' early surge.  Of course, neither figures to last, but it's worth a mention.

Brian Dozier
- That's right, I said Brian Dozier.  Forgive me for a little local flavor here, but this kid's looking like something solid right off.  Granted, I don't see an All-Star Game in his future or anything like it, but if he can continue with the steady play he's shown and flash the upper deck power he unfurled today, the Twins may finally say they developed themselves a shortstop.  At least for a while.

The next new thing -
Trout and Harper are up, so who's next to make a showy debut in the bigs?  A few familiar names are threatening to return - LaPorta, Rizzo, Snider - but Jedd Gyorko seems to have the hole shot on the next opening amongst the 420-odd starting slots in the majors.  Orlando Hudson is finally, mercifully, done being a major league player.  The Padres just haven't admitted it yet.  More to the point, the Pads are among the teams that haven't come out of the gates hot, and with low expectations to begin with, it's time to write this one off and see what the youngsters can give you.  Alonso started the year up, and he, Maybin, and Headley are the building blocks for the future in San Diego.  Gyorko has the potential to add himself to that mix, though his move to 2B is recent and not above reproach.  We will find out soon about his ability to let his offense punch his ticket while that defense develops.