MLB April recap
DIVISION LEADERS
AL EAST
The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles lead the division at 15-8. The Yankees have been paced by youngster Aaron Judge offensively and gotten contributions from veterans Starlin Castro, Chase Headley, and Matt Holiday. The Yankees rotation has been solid getting 12 quality starts in 23 games and the bullpen has been as advertised. The O's offense is waiting on it's big bats to get going as Manny Machado is hitting just .224 and Mark Trumbo is batting .202 with two home runs. The O's pitching staff has been inconsistent outside of Wade Miley and Dylan Bundy who have combined for 8 of the teams 12 quality starts.
AL CENTRAL
The Cleveland Indians are 14-10 and winners of 7 of their last 10. Slow starts from the starting rotation outside of Carlos Carrasco combined with slow starts by Yan Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion have been major factors to the 14-10 record.
AL WEST
At 16-9 the Houston Astros have put the rest of the AL on notice that they are here. Jose Altuve continues to be the table setter and newcomers Josh Reddick and Brian McCann have contributed right away. The rotation will need to get better outside of Dallas Keuchel if they want to keep this pace up.
NL EAST
The Washington Nationals are 17-8 and have the best record in baseball. People are questioning if this the best Bryce Harper we've seen and with numbers like .391 avg, 9 hrs, 26 rbi, and 32 runs scored it is hard to argue. The Nats bullpen isn't great but the starters are helping them out with 19 quality starts in 25 games.
NL CENTRAL
The defending World Series Champs are just 13-11 and slow starts from Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist and Javier Baez and major reasons. Couple that with the starters having just 9 quality starts in 24 games and you see why some may be concerned.
NL WEST
Despite slow starts from Carlos Gonzalez and Trevor Story the Colorado Rockies are 16-10. Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, and Mark Reynolds are carrying the offense and if the game gets to the nineth Greg Holland has been closing the door.
BIGGEST STORIES AT THE DISH
Eric Thames has been the biggest story through April hitting .345 with 11 hrs, 19 rbi and a 1.276 ops. He has helped Ryan Braun return to all-star level by giving him protection.
Ryan Zimmerman has somehow quietly hit .420 with 11 hrs, 29 rbi and 1.345 ops. His reemergence has certainly helped the Nats to the best record in baseball.
BIGGEST STORIES ON THE MOUND
After a disappointing 2016, Dallas Keuchel has returned to Cy Young caliber with a 5-0 record in 6 starts with a 1.21 era. In his only no decision he tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball and struck out 4.
Greg Holland missed the entire 2016 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He signed with Rockies and has returned to look like the top closer in baseball yet again. He is 11 for 11 in save opportunities but has made 12 appearances. He has a 1.50 era and has struck out 13 in 12 innings.
TEAM HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION
The San Francisco Giants are 9-17 and with Madison Bumgarner out until after the all-star break Bruce Bochy has to fix things quickly. Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija both have ERAs over 5.00 giving up a combined 39 earned runs in 61.1 innings. With the rest of the division looking like they are going to get better as the season rolls on the Giants could miss the playoffs for the second time in three years.
