Surprises

Alright baseball fans, check it out! This spring is what it’s all about.  It’s time for the surprises, both positive and negative.  The season is still young, but it is always interesting to see how early some teams will hit the panic button, or what teams can hold on to their success. 
The Angels were great last year and now this year they quickly find themselves sitting at a 3-6 record.  The Chicago White Sox were predicted by most to win the AL Central this season but currently sit around a five hundred record of 4-5.  The Boston Red Sox are supposed to compete with the Yankees and Rays for what may be the craziest and tightest three team race in baseball.  Although the Red Sox are also sitting around five hundred with a 4-5 record, they must be sure to not get to far behind the Rays and Yanks. 
What do all three have in common thus far?  They’ve played the Minnesota Twins. The Twins sit atop the AL Central at 7-3.  Again, it is early in the season, but with the Twins opening the brand new (amazing and beautiful) Target Field, maybe this is the Twins’ time.  Defending MVP Joe Mauer has not missed a beat after signing for 184 million dollars.  In fact, Mauer is right where he left off by swinging for an average of .353 so far this year.  So the Twins have a new home, dropping cash like they want to be the New York Yankees.  Could it be time for the small ball team to take it to the big dogs? 
To go on with the surprises, the biggest for myself would be the Toronto Blue Jays having a fast start out the gate.  After trading away ace Roy Halladay in the offseason, most would think the Jays were in a total reconstruction process, but maybe not. A person would not guess this but the Jays have the second worst team batting average, .219, and yet still find themselves with one of the best records.
The last two surprises so far are in a flip flop roll.  The San Francisco Giants are hot at 7-2 while the LA Dodgers are not at 3-5.  The stat that is hard to believe, though, is that the Dodgers are leading the league in team batting average at .316.  The Giants sit in fourth at .297. 

On a side note: The Jason Heyward update (Atlanta Braves rookie right fielder).  Heyward has done well so far with three homeruns and twelve RBIs, which equals a .242 average.  Watch for this rookie to continue to grow and get better each game.