Early Thoughts: AL East

The early goings to the season have been a lot of fun, with some teams and players on a ridiculous tear, whilst others appear to have signed in the season already. Everything can, and will, change over the next few months but having watched almost all teams play at least a few innings this season, I'd thought I'd chip in with my early season thoughts. I'll go division to division, starting in the AL with perhaps the most open division in baseball - the AL East.

Boston Red Sox - 13-6

Coming off a historically bad 2012 season in which the team won just 69 games, the rebuilt Sox have gotten off to a flyer in 2013. The main reason? Starting pitching. John Farrell has been credited with the jump in performance for Lester and Buchholz, and whilst his influence undoubtedly plays a part, I expected big bounceback seasons from the pair of them. I've watched them both pitch, and Lester's increased velocity is a real cause for optimism, as his cutter is causing right-handed hitters problems and his off-speed stuff continues to baffle lefties. Buchholz has always had excellent stuff, but so far this season he has combated his penchance for issuing walks with an amazing 94% strand rate. This number will go down, and subsequently his 0.90 ERA will go up, but he could still be due a monster season.

With the bat, Mike Napoli' production has been a pleasant surprise, as the hard hitting right-hander has taken full advantage of the friendly Fenway confines to post a .278/.321/.570 triple-slash with four home runs. The return of Ortiz will also provide a huge shot in the arm to this offense - it's easy to forget that he was posting a similar offensive stat line to Miguel Cabrera before injuries derailed his 2012 season. I see no reason why he can't hit .300 and challenge 30 home runs, even in his age-37 season. Ellsbury has wreaked havoc on the bases so far this season, and this offense has proven capable of keeping itself in games. It also helps that despite the injury to Joel Hanrahan, the bullpen has been lights out so far, with Junichi Tazawa impressing me in particular.

Baltimore Orioles - 11-8

I'm going to readily concede at this point that I haven't seen nearly as much of the Orioles as I should have, or would like to. Entering the season, many once again had them written off, despite their superb 2012 performance, and they have once again set out to prove the doubters wrong. Their record can largely thank the inspiring performances of Chris Davis, who has a .368/.457/.776 triple-slash and eight home runs to his name, building off a breakout season last year. Adam Jones has also hit well, and despite an injury to the ever-unlucky Brian Roberts, the offense has been one of the most productive in the AL.

The rotation hasn't actually been that impressive so far this season, as Wei-Yin Chen's 3.38 ERA leads the team. Both Jason Hammel and Chris Tillman have struggled a little, but I expect them to bounce back, and put up more stellar numbers. The bullpen has once again been superb, as Jim Johnson has closed out all eight opportunities granted to him and Darren O'Day has continued to be one of the best right-handed relievers in the Majors with his hard sinking fastball. Once top prospect Brian Matusz has had a few botched attempts to enter the big league rotation, but has finally found his groove as a left-handed reliever, using his hard breaking slider to allow just two hits in eight innings this season. If the rotation can sort out some issues, this staff will be very underrated.

New York Yankees - 11-9

Plenty of people were happy to write the Yankees off entering the season, but the ageing squad has set out to prove they still have life left in them, and sit above .500 at 3rd in the East. Robinson Cano has been as productive as ever, hitting .322 with 7 home runs, and he has received able support from the likes of Youkilis, Hafner and Wells. Ichiro's struggles and Jeter's setback continues to leave the line-up looking frail, but the bit-part pieces have contributed so far and the Yankees will hope they can at least make them competitive until the likes of Granderson and Teixeira return.

On the other hand, the rotation has been very impressive. CC Sabathia has been a bit disappointing, with a poor first start and rough outing against Tampa Bay exacerbating velocity concerns, but was fine in his other two starts, and his 3.34 ERA is not bad at all. 40 year old Andy Pettitte continues to turn back the clock, putting in several dominant outings on his way to a 2.22 ERA, and as long as he can stay on the field he should be productive. Hiroki Kuroda struggled a little with an injury in one start, but has continued to be one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball, firing a shutout against the Jays. Both Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova have struggled, which should surprise no-one, and the performances of the back-end of the rotation will hold back the quality of the top end. Mariano Rivera has once again turned back the years, saving all seven opportunities granted to him, although the bullpen hasn't been as dominant as the Yankees would have hoped.

Tampa Bay Rays - 10-11

The Rays have gotten off to a sluggish start so far this season, although after being 4-9 at one stage they have recovered well to a more respectable 10-11. The main reason for this slow start is the non-existent offense, as their .227 team average ranks 14th in the AL. Evan Longoria leads the team with 5 home runs, whilst the unexpected sparkplug has been glove-dominant first baseman James Loney who is hitting .327. Desmond Jennings has provided the speed with five steals, but a .298 OBP isn't really good enough for a lead-off hitter. These offensive woes make it strange that Wil Myers continues to battle away in triple-A, as the extra year of team control has been secured, so expect his arrival imminently.

David Price has struggled with inconsistencies in the early season goings, and he sports an expensive 5.52 ERA after five starts. The stuff is still there, but Price will need to locate better if he wants to repeat last year's Cy Young success. Behind him, the staff has been outstanding. Second year southpaw Matt Moore has been tremendous so far this season, with a 1.04 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 26 innings on his way to four wins. He is yet to truly address the walk issues, but this is a fine start to the year. Alex Cobb has also pitched very well, sporting just a 1.82 ERA and allowing just a single home run. Hellickson and Hernandez have bee indifferent, and personally I hope the Rays call up Chris Archer soon because he has shown the explosive stuff that could make him a future top of the rotation option.

Toronto Blue Jays - 9-13

Not many teams have been as disappointing so far this season as the Toronto Blue Jays. After the blockbuster off-season, hopes were sky high, but so far the team has only been able to prop up the AL East. The hitters have been awful, ranking last in the AL in team batting average, and the crushing loss of Jose Reyes will not fix that problem any time soon. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista have struggled mightily, and though Brett Lawrie has returned from injury, he, Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio will need to start pulling their weight on this offense. J.P. Arencibia has been the lone bright spark in the line-up, crushing eight homers, but this hot streak won't last all season.

The team has been no better on the mound, with the rotation struggling mightily. J.A. Happ's 3.68 ERA leads the team, with R.A. Dickey still recovering after a couple of poor early starts as he sits on a 4.66 ERA. He should turn those fortunes around soon, but Mark Buehrle's struggles are more concerning, as his 6.35 ERA in five starts owes much to the 37 hits allowed in just 28 innings. Josh Johnson's stats are skewed by an awful outing against Detroit, but he has been far from pedigree so far this year, whilst Brandon Morrow has so far been unable to follow up from his breakout 2012 season. Casey Janssen has been very solid indeed at the back end of games, saving all six opportunities granted to him, but he is given few chances due to the poor performances from the starters. They'll need to turn that around if they want to get back on track.