Around The Bases #4

As the month of April wraps up so to does the first month of the season and there are some early surprises and disappointments. The Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies are off to great starts. While the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers with all their hype, have been struggling.

Top 5 Storylines:

1) Colorado Rockies surge
2) Angels sweep Tigers
3) Kansas City Royals
4) J.P. Arencebia and John Buck
5) Reigning AL MVP at it again

5) Miguel Cabrera is off to another terrific start to his season .375 BA and 26 RBI’s . He has hit 30+ home runs in 11 of his 12 seasons with the only blemish coming in his rookie year. He won a World Series with the (then) Florida Marlins back in 2003 and then signed an eight year 154 million dollar deal with the Tigers in 2008. He and the Tigers appeared in the championship last year but fell to the San Francisco Giants in four games. Despite being swept in the WS, the Tigers are showing resilience and a will to return to the dance and make another run. I chose Prince Fielder to win MVP but it is the triple-crown winner Cabrera leading the Tigers to a (14-10) record and in first place in their division.

4) Both J.P. Arencebia and John Buck were members of the Toronto Blue Jays at some point during the off-season, that was until Alex Anthopoulos sent Buck as part of a deal to acquire starting pitcher R.A. Dickey. Buck has been tremendous so far for the New York Mets. He leads all catchers with nine home runs. While he is hitting just .250 he has driven in 25. Buck has never hit more then 20 home runs in a season, with his largest output coming in 2010 as a member of the Blue Jays. J.P. Arencebia is struggling as well with a low batting average at (.245) but his eight home runs is one off the AL Lead.

3) The Kansas City Royals were a team that I believed would be a year away from contending, but in a weak AL Central that includes the Twins, White Sox and the Indians the Royals are legitimately the second best team in their division behind Detroit. At (13-10) they sit 0.5 GB from the division leading Tigers at the end of April. There are still five months left in the season so it will be interesting to see the development of this team going forward. But as of now with guys like Alex Gordon who is batting .337 and the strong pitching from both off-season acquisitions Ervin Santana and James Shields, this team has remained in close games. Personally, I think it’s still early to call the Royals as a playoff caliber team, but they are showing a glimpse of what will come in the future.

2) Last week one of the big series I featured was the Detroit Tigers against the vulnerable Los Angeles Angels. While the Angels did not face Justin Verlander they beat Jim Leyland’s squad handedly. I truly believe this could be the ALCS when it is all said and done, but both teams have major holes that need to be fixed down the stretch. For the Tigers they must decide who will close out games while the Angels power lineup still lacks consistency.

1) The Colorado Rockies are THE story so far in the early 2013 MLB Season. With a (15-10) record they sit tied atop the NL West division with the Arizona Diamondbacks. I remember the Rockies team of 2007 that snuck into the playoffs with one of the most miraculous runs in September ]. They would sweep the first two series between (Philadelphia and Arizona) before losing to Boston in the World Series in four. The 2013 version of the Rockies remind me of this team a lot, and playing in the high altitude of the Rockies is definitely a home field advantage. A big part of their early success is the emergence of Dexter Fowler. The speedy outfielder not known for his power is hitting the ball well. He is hitting .295 and has seven home runs to boot. The young core of players around Fowler include infielders: Josh Rutledge, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. They have a no-name pitching staff with guys like Jorge De La Rosa, Juan Nicasio, Canadian Jeff Francis and their number one, who's on the disabled list Jhoulys Chacin.

Games To Watch:

1) Los Angles Dodgers (12-12) @ San Francisco Giants (14-12)
- Friday to Sunday
- Always bad blood between these two teams
- Division Matchup
- Game of the week (ESPN)

2) Boston Red Sox (18-7) @ Toronto Blue Jays (9-17)
- Tuesday to Thursday
- Division Matchup
- Blue Jays are struggling while John Farrell’s Red Sox are soaring
- Blue Jays need to improve in all areas, their (5-8) home record is a good place to start

3) NY Mets (10-14) @ Atlanta Braves (16-9)
- Friday to Sunday
- Division Matchup
- Matt Harvey (NYM) vs. Justin Upton (ATL)