AL Notes: April Featuring Surprising Division Leaders And Struggling Favorites

The opening weeks of the Major League Baseball season traditionally feature clubs not expected to be in the mix for the playoffs getting off to surprising starts and favorites coming out of the gate sluggish, and the start of the 2021 campaign is no different.

In the West, Oakland and Houston were the pre-season favorites, but it has been the Seattle Mariners who have jumped out with a 9-5 record, thanks mostly to solid work from their bullpen and surprising starters from outfielder Mitch Haniger and second baseman Ty France.

The A’s got off to a 1-7 start, but have rebounded with six wins in a row to get back to .500, while the Astros started out 6-1 and have lost their last six.

In the Central, the White Sox and Twins were supposed to battle for the division title, but it is Kansas City that has the early lead at 7-4, with good outings from Danny Duffy and Jakob Junis and a hot start from infielder Whit Merrifield.

Chicago has been getting great starting pitching from Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, and Carlos Rodon (who pitched a no-hitter vs. Cleveland on Wednesday), but their offense is struggling with outfielder Eloy Jimenez out for the season, batting champion Tim Anderson just off the IL, and MVP Jose Abreu hitting .184.

Minnesota is also getting good work out of their rotation and power from Byron Buxton and Nelson Cruz, but after a 5-2 start against Milwaukee, Detroit, and Seattle, the Twins have lost six of their last seven games.

In the East, the Yankees were thought to be the clear favorites with Toronto a potential challenger if their pitching came through, but through two weeks the surprise has been Boston residing in the top spot and New York in the basement with a 5-8 record.

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The Red Sox opened the season getting swept by the Orioles, but proceeded to rip off nine wins in a row with Rafael Devers, JD Martinez, and Alex Verdugo leading the offense. The Blue Jays have failed to have any consistent success against anyone other than New York, and are running into injury problems in the bullpen.

The Yankees have been an unmitigated disaster to start the season, losing every series except against Baltimore and have the worst record in the American League at 5-8. New York ace Gerrit Cole is 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA and the bullpen has been great, but the rest of the rotation (Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German) is 1-4 with an ERA over 6.00 and can’t get to the fifth inning.

The Bombers’ bats other than Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu have started slow, with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and Clint Frazier all under the Mendoza line, but the team’s defense has been subpar with Jay Bruce playing first and Gleyber Torres below-average at shortstop.

Fans at Yankee Stadium are throwing baseballs onto the field.

Stop this nonsense and act like adults. pic.twitter.com/Mn8XvyBy7w

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken) April 17, 2021

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Aaron Boone is scrambling for solutions, moving LeMahieu to first and playing Rougned Odor at second while Luke Voit recovers from knee surgery, and inserting veteran Brett Gardner for the struggling Frazier, but nothing has seemed to work.

Dissatisfaction boiled over in the Bronx on Friday, as fans threw baseballs on the field in the eighth inning with New York losing 8-2 and on their way to their third loss in a row, and if their underachieving play continues, more criticism will be directed at Boone and GM Brian Cashman.