MLB 10 Quick Thoughts

by Chris Cappella

With most teams being 16 games into this young season, there have been a few things I have picked up on. Enjoy this ten pack of thoughts to celebrate being 10% of the way through the season.

Pablo Sandoval (left) and Buster Posey (right) are
off to encouraging starts this season.

1. The San Francisco Giants young sluggers, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, seem just fine to me. Posey, who is coming back from a serious leg injury, is hitting .375 with two homers while Sandoval has tied Willie Mays for the club record of consecutive games to get a hit to start a season (16).
2. The Boston Red Sox are in serious trouble in my opinion. Their rotation is a mess, and there may be some animosity in the clubhouse after new coach Bobby Valentine called out fan favorite Kevin Youkilis and then got called out by second baseman Dustin Pedroia. The team will definitely be better with the return of Carl Crawford (at least I think so) and Jacoby Ellsbury (eventually). The man who gets too much of a pass for this whole situation is current Cubs executive Theo Epstein, who veered off from his true values and has left the Sox in shambles at the moment.
3. Texas looks like the best team in the American League, again. You literally could not find a hole in their balanced line-up and are very solid on defense. The only worry is lack of a stud pitcher that could win them that one big game, but we can cross that road when needed.
4. The Philadelphia Phillies are really struggling. Without their two best power hitters (Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, out indefinitely) a 3-0 defecit feels like 10-0. The pitching staff is very good, but I think myself and others get the feeling that the window in Philly is closing, and fast.
5. Ranking the worst five teams in order, from worst to worst-er: Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros (this is considered a success for them at the moment), Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and the Kansas City Royals (weren’t they supposed to be a little good this year?).
6. Five best teams, from bottom to top: LA Dodgers (can’t fault them for who was on their schedule), New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and the Texas Rangers.
7. Matt Kemp is far and away the best player in baseball right now. He is hitting a ridiculous .460 and already has NINE home runs. He’s young, a five tool player, and looks unstoppable right now.
8. Time for some New York love: Derek Jeter must have dipped into the fountain of youth this off-season. Entering his 18^th full season as Yankees shortstop, the captain is hitting a whopping .411 and has multi-hit performances in nine of 16 games. When it comes to the Mets, RE-SIGN DAVID WRIGHT. Please and thank you.
9. Stephen Strasburgh is really, really good. It isn’t often that a 23 year old throws as hard as he does with good command and has nasty off-speed.
10. Texas has a lot of notable names, but don’t sleep on Mike Napoli or Daniel Murphy sneaking into the AL MVP race. Both can handle the stick and are as important as anyone on that team.