The standings this morning indicate that 29 of the 30 ML teams are within 2 1/2 games of first place today. This is very different from two years ago, when a number of teams got off to both fantastic and horrible starts, and the divisions had spread themselves out by this time.
And we have interesting teams in first place. The Toronto Blue Jays are on top of the AL East; the Brewers top the NL Central after beating up Pittsburgh, and the Washington Nationals are tied for first in the tight NL East.
The only club not keeping pace is Colorado. They’ve been outscored 60 to 36 and have their walks and strikeouts backwards. The pitchers have walked 48 and struck out 40. It’s bad enough when an individual pitcher does this, but to have the whole staff in this situation is deplorable. Meanwhile, the batters have drawn 21 walks while striking out 53 times. And you can’t blame Denver for the poor pitching; six of the eight games have been played on the road. It’s going to be a long summer at Coors.