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Written by: Shane M. Dayton The first month of the major league baseball season is in the books, and the beginning of this season has brought some surprises for teams, both good and bad. So out of all the unexpected results and story lines April brought, which are the most surprising. I’ll give you a clue on the first one: I predicted them as a surprise team in a pre-season article. Surprise #1: The Milwaukee Brewers. Yes, I picked them as a surprise team for 2007, and even as a possible team who could upset the St. Louis Cardinals to win their division. Was I expecting them to start May with the best record in all of baseball at 18-9 for a .667 winning percentage? Not in my wildest dreams. While this isn’t likely to last through an entire season, this team is the real deal and for the rejuvenated Brew Crew, it’s all about the pitching. For most of the month the Brewers had a winning record despite being outscored, but they kept winning the 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 games. The Brewers rotation is one of the best in all of major league baseball, and though you might not know the name Francisco Cordero, opposing managers know who he is. The Brewers relief pitcher has an astounding line of stats to start out the season. In twelve games he has pitched 11 innings, only gave up 2 hits, has 19 k’s, and 10 saves to lead the majors. He has an ERA of 0.00, that's right, a complete blank, and the Brewers have won all twelve games he’s appeared in, ten of those by 3 runs or less. Add to it the talk that their top minor league pitching prospect could have the best raw talent of anyone in the rotation, and this team isn't crashing any time soon. The Brewers were going to be an improved team, but no one had any idea they could be this good. It’s not pretty or flashy, but in the end it’s the W’s that matter, not the style, and the Brewers are one of the few teams in the majors who could lose their two starting pitchers and still have a shot at the play-offs, especially in a weak division where they have been absolutely dominating. Surprise #2: The New York Yankees or St. Louis Cardinals. Take your pick. There were people who wondered how strong the Cardinals were, but I don’t think anyone saw the World Series Champions at the bottom of their division the next season; especially since it was viewed as one of the weakest divisions in baseball. Everything seems to be going wrong for the Cards, starting with the pitching staff. If you told me that A-Rod would have one of the most insane months in baseball history, hitting nearly .400 and leading the majors in home runs and RBIs, and the Yankees would still be several games under .500, I would call you crazy. Yet the pitching staff of the Yankees is so terrible, that despite scoring 150 runs, an average of six a game and second in MLB, they are under .500 and almost six games out of first place. Even Mariano Rivera, one of the most dominating relievers in history, seems to have lost every bit of magic and has been killed by opposing batters. The St. Louis Cardinals may have been one of the weakest teams to ever win the World Series, but then to go 10-16 and score fewer runs than any other team. They are tied with the Nationals—that’s right, the Washington Nationals, for last place. The pitching staff has been mediocre, the hitting isn’t coming together at all, and with the strong resurgence of the Brewers, who have pitching, it’s hard to believe they can make up the ground. Along with the Yankees, just how bad the Cardinals have been has to be one of the two major surprises in the major leagues. |
