Written by Matt Snyder at CBS Sports.com
Wednesday marks the final day of May, so we’re just about through two of the six months of the Major League Baseball season. Yes, mathematicians, we’re about one-third of the way through the MLB season.
For many, getting through Memorial Day is the right time to start looking at the standings and taking them seriously. For me, I’ve made it an Official Power Rankings rule that you aren’t allowed to say things like “it’s early” once we get to June. There are surprises and there will be turnarounds — both in the positive and the negative — moving forward for sure, but we’ve got a nice chunk of baseball banked.
Let’s zero in on the most surprising things so far and if I expect it to continue.
Twins are tied for AL Central lead
I liked the Twins to be better than last year, but how could they have possibly been as bad? They didn’t even win 60 games last year. To look at the AL Central this season without a horse in the race, it seemed pretty obvious the Indians would win it. They still probably will (that would be my prediction), but kudos to the Twins for this early-season run. Ervin Santana is throwing like a Cy Young candidate, Miguel Sano is hitting the ball harder than anyone, Robbie Grossman is an on-base machine and Jose Berrios has been filthy since his call-up.
Brewers lead the NL Central
The consensus coming into the season was that the Cubs would win the division with ease. If offered a fall-back option, most people would have likely taken the Cardinals. The Pirates have recently been a contender as well. The Brewers are still in the midst of a bit of a rebuild.
And yet, the Brewers hang onto first place past Memorial Day. Thanks in part to a ridiculous April from Eric Thames, the offense has exhibited great power throughout the season while getting fine rotation work from Jimmy Nelson and Chase Anderson. Corey Knebel has settled in as closer and done an outstanding job.
Alas, I don’t see this holding. The only reason the Brewers are still in first is the Cubs can’t get themselves together. But they will. Even if the Cubs only win 85-88 games, it’ll be enough to take the Central again. The Cardinals will finish second. The Brewers, though, continue to make progress with GM Doug Stearns’ rebuild. They won 73 games last year. Let’s assign them a .500 record this year, which is an eight-game improvement.
Rockies and Diamondbacks in the NL West mix
Last September, I said the Rockies were set up to be a sneaky contender this year, and nothing we’ve seen so far gives me any reason to change my mind. In fact, they’ll get back Jon Gray in the rotation and my hunch is Jeff Hoffman builds off his last outing at some point. The Rockies would then actually have rotation depth with those two, veterans Tyler Chatwood and Tyler Anderson and then young guns Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and German Marquez. With their offense and the Greg Holland-led bullpen, that’s enough to grab the top NL wild card.
Yes, I have the Dodgers winning the NL West again. Again, though, I’d pick the Rockies as the top wild card right now.
Can the Diamondbacks remain in the mix for the second one? In my estimation, yes they can. The Cardinals will be there as well and the Mets probably find a way to hang around. Arizona’s success so far, though, seems real. They have a legit MVP candidate in Paul Goldschmidt and ace in Zack Greinke along with lots of other good pieces.
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