Even at the start of spring training, most of the glamorous story lines centered around American League teams. Not much has changed.
The Rangers lead the majors in runs per game, batting average and slugging percentage.Even at the start of spring training, most of the glamorous story lines centered around American League teams. Not much has changed.
Three AL hot topics, viewed through the “fact or fiction” lens:
The Texas Rangers are clearly the best team in the majors.
FACT. Early in the season, it is hard to find this team’s weakness. The major concerns were a rotation that lost ace C.J. Wilson and a lineup that features injury-prone players. Well, the pitching staff leads the AL with a microscopic 2.55 ERA, and the Rangers lead the majors in runs per game, batting average and slugging percentage. And not only have Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz avoided the injury bug, they played in the outfield in each of the first 14 games (Hamilton was the DH in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader). No team can match Texas’ depth, whether it be in the infield, outfield, rotation or bullpen.
And the scary thing for the other AL contenders is the Rangers have room for improvement. They still are getting very little offense from primary first baseman Mitch Moreland, righthander Yu Darvish still is struggling with his command and consistency, and they have stolen only 10 bases (after finishing fifth in the majors with 143 swipes last season). The Ron Washington-led squad is showing no signs of a hangover from a second consecutive World Series loss and appears to be using last season’s October heartache as motivation.
The Boston Red Sox cannot overcome their poor start.
FICTION. Largely overlooked because of their terrible finish to last season was the way the Red Sox began 2011. They were 2-10 after 12 games and didn’t reach the .500 mark until May 15. But by May 26, they had a share of first place in the AL East. During that 2-10 start, Boston had the majors’ worst ERA (6.79), was tied for 19th in runs per game (3.83) and was 26th in batting average (.224). During their 4-10 start this season, the Red Sox are last in the majors in ERA (6.68) but in the top 10 in batting average (.276) and runs per game (5.0). Believe it or not, things actually were worse last season.
For argument’s sake (and the sake of Red Sox Nation’s sanity), let's assume the team officially hit rock bottom Saturday after blowing a 9-0 lead against the New York Yankees. The beauty of a 162-game schedule is that there is plenty of time to erase a bad stretch. The concern is that the entire rotation has struggled, the bullpen is a disaster, the runs have come in bunches (Boston has scored three runs or fewer eight times and 12 or more runs three times) and the clubhouse remains as dysfunctional as it was during the September collapse. The roster is loaded with superstars—albeit struggling superstars—meaning the talent is there for a turnaround. The offense should get a boost from the soon-to-return Carl Crawford, and there is an additional wild card this season.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols will finish with a career-low homer total this season.
FACT. As cool and confident as he is, Pujols undoubtedly is feeling the pressure and pressing a bit after going homerless in his first 61 at-bats this season. It isn’t as if he isn’t hitting—he ranks among the AL leaders with seven doubles—but Pujols doesn’t look like the same slugger who averaged more than 40 homers in his first 11 seasons in the majors.
“You want to talk about the pressure of a new contract, the pressure of playing in a new place ... you go ask a rookie about all those things," Pujols told the Los Angeles Times. "You don't wonder about those things with a guy who has been in baseball 11 seasons."
The number to shoot for is 32 homers, Pujols’ career-low total from 2007. Unless he gets more help from his teammates, Pujols will continue to see few good pitches to hit. Only three Angels have more than one homer (Vernon Wells is the team leader with three), and Mark Trumbo is the only regular hitting better than .300. Also working against Pujols this season is the division in which he plays. Three of the four ballparks in the AL West, including Angel Stadium, are pitcher-friendly. He certainly is capable of hot stretches and a 30-homer season would be nice, but 32 looks surprisingly unrealistic.