4/12/26

New York Blues

Any team in a big market is going to have more pressure on them and be tightly monitored by fan bases. The two teams in New York might have the most constant pressure on them and this past week was not good for either in the City That Never Sleeps. The Mets have all kinds of pressure with a massive payroll and a lack of success for the last 25 years. After winning their first game of the week, the Mets were 7-4 and winners of four in a row. They then lost the next five games and have fallen into last place in the NL East in a tie with Washington at 7-9. While they are missing superstar Juan Soto who is on the IL with a calf strain, the rest of the team is intact. The offense only scored more than four runs once this week and it was in a loss. The pitching has not been the problem at all but the bats have been slacking and must breakout with a big week with road series at the Dodgers and Cubs.

Over in the American League, the New York Yankees have matched the Mets with a five-game skid of their own. The Yankees have had one of the best pitching staffs in the sport to begin 2026 and got off to a historic. New York got off to an 8-2 start but lost the final two against the Athletics before getting swept by Tampa Bay. In that losing streak, the Yankees have lost the five games by a combined six runs. That means one bad break or one mistake is deciding these games. New York is hitting into untimely double plays, making some defensive mistakes, and just not hitting in critical situations. Aaron Judge is not off to a tremendous start either, which doesn’t help. However, the tight losses are not a major concern. The breaks will go their way eventually and Judge will get going sooner rather than later.

Houston Has a Problem

While neither New York team should be too concerned with their cold stretch, the Houston Astros are in big trouble early on in the season. What cost the Astros last season were injuries to key players and everyone seemed to agree that they could not be that unlucky again this season. However, Houston now has seven key players on the IL and the rotation is being decimated. Ace and Cy Young contender Hunter Brown landed on the IL with a shoulder strain and Cristian Javier followed him with a shoulder issue. Jake Meyers joined them on the same day as Javier with a back injury while Bennett Sousa and Josh Hader have been there since the start of the season. Jeremy Peña and Tatsuya Imai landed on the IL on Monday after both were injured in Seattle.

Of course those injuries have affected the team on the field as the Astros entered Monday on a seven-game losing streak against the A’s, Rockies, and Mariners. The lineup leads all of baseball in hits and runs scored but they also have the worst ERA in baseball at 6.49 and have allowed 99 earned runs which is 17 more than Washington who has allowed the second most. The lineup can’t be expected to need to score 7 or more runs a night to win a game and the bullpen can’t handle pitching six innings every game. The rotation needs some stability and without reliable starters, that just isn’t happening. The AL West is strong with Texas and Seattle being strong contenders and the Angels and Athletics both playing very well to start the season. It is getting worrisome early for the Astros as the end of the dynasty could be here.

Surprising Starts

Just when we think we know what to expect from teams, they come out and surprise us both in good ways and bad. Let’s give some love to those teams that might not stay this hot throughout the entire season but are at least off to nice starts in the opening weeks.

Minnesota was in the discussion for being the worst team in the sport in 2026 but as of now they are 9-7 and tied with Cleveland atop the American League. The lineup is not great but they are great at hitting with runners on. They are capitalizing on their opportunities as they are hitting .279 with runners in scoring position, the 8th best in baseball.

The Miami Marlins seem to be taking Milwaukee’s approach to scoring runs that led the Brewers to the best record in baseball in 2025. They have stolen 19 bases already this season which is the third most in baseball. They are small ball minded and don’t try to push the envelope too much and don’t swing for the fences necessarily. They are winning games with names that nobody has heard of outside of the diehard fans with Xavier Edwards and Owen Caissie sparking the offense while Sandy Alcantara has gotten back to his Cy Young level game.

Los Angeles isn’t just the Dodgers this season as the Angels are mashing their way to the top of the AL West. Now they have fallen out of the top spot, but the Halos are tied with Houston for the most home runs in the American League with 19 and are living by the home run. If they fall off hitting home runs, the team might be in trouble with a 3.99 team ERA, which isn’t bad but won’t carry a below average offense. Mike Trout is a feel good story with a .777 OPS so far in the season.

Average Joes

Has anyone looked that the standings so far in MLB? It is stunning. The best team in baseball is unsurprisingly the Los Angeles Dodgers with an 11-4 record and are the outliers. In second place are San Diego and Atlanta at 10-6. The Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, and San Francisco Giants are tied for last at 6-10. Just 4 1/2 games separate last place in baseball from second place. 12 teams are within a game of being .500 or are .500. It is a complete traffic jam in the standings with the largest division lead being just two games for Atlanta over Miami. Now things will probably balance out with teams getting hot and pulling away, but right now anyone can beat anyone any given week which makes for some very exciting baseball.

Young Stars Getting Paid

A common theme early this season is young stars getting paid. Not only are these young stars, but none of them have even played in the big leagues before getting massive contracts. Konnor Griffin is the latest to get a massive extension but he had five days of service time before inking his nine-year, $140 million extension with Pittsburgh. Seattle had just locked up Colt Emerson to an eight-year, $95 million deal and he still has not made his debut. Just before that, Milwaukee signed Cooper Pratt to an eight-year, $50.75 million deal as they just continued to one-up each other.

This is not anything new as teams have started signing players in the minor leagues before their debut for the last handful of years. Boston signed both Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony last season and Baltimore matched that by extending Samuel Basallo. Now there are a couple of reasons teams are doing this. The first is that they want to lock up players in premier positions for cheaper prices. Griffin, Emerson, and Pratt are all shortstops which are very pricey especially after success in the big leagues. Now sometimes it can not payoff as Seattle got hurt by their extension with Evan White back in 2019. However, some are fantastic like Milwaukee’s deal with Jackson Chourio which now looks like a bargain.

Another big reason for all of these extensions is the looming MLB lockout. A big piece of contention there is a potential salary cap limiting how much teams can spend per season. A stricter luxury tax could be another possibility but the thought process is that if these contracts are signed before a potential salary cap is instituted then they can be grandfathered in and won’t affect the teams as much as they could. Prospects that wait until after next spring could end up being cut off on what they could make and have to settle for less than they could make if they sign now. While most of the big names have already signed there could still be a handful more to sign deals before the end of this season and beat the lockout deadline.

Three Series to Watch Next Week

New York @ Los Angeles (4/13-4/15, Three Games)

The two biggest payrolls in baseball will square off for a three-game series in what many considered to be an NLCS preview before the season started. The New York Mets will take their $375 million CBT (Competitive Balance Tax) to Los Angeles to battle the Dodgers and their $413.5 million CBT. The two teams will combine to pay over a billion dollars in 2026 and it will be the highest combined payroll for a series in MLB history. With a looming lockout and potential salary cap, there might not ever be an opportunity for any teams to surpass this ever. This is what happens when rich owners want championships. It will be a star-studded series as the Dodgers look to continue to be the favorites yet again while the Mets try to end a five-game skid while the rest of their division begins to warm up.

Seattle @ San Diego (4/14-4/16, Three Games)

I looked at three different series to put on here instead of this one, but each featured one of the other four teams already written about. So we will go with the first leg of the 2026 Vedder Cup and two of maybe the most underrated franchises of this decade. Both the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres are top 10 record wise in the 2020s with Seattle sitting in 10th at 477-409 and San Diego in 8th at 480-406. Neither have been in the spotlight as both have sat behind strong teams in their respective divisions with Houston and Los Angeles. Neither have made it to the World Series in this century but both will enter the series on high notes after Seattle just dominated a four-game series with the Astros while the Padres have won five in a row coming into the week. Last season was the first official Vedder Cup as the rivalry became official with a trophy designed by Eddie Vedder who spent his teen years in San Diego where he would also begin his musical career but had his big break as the lead vocalist for one of the biggest Seattle bands of all time in Pearl Jam. The M’s dominated the series last year going 5-1 and Seattle is 14-4 against the Padres in the last four seasons.

Atlanta @ Philadelphia (4/17-4/19, Three Games)

One of the hottest rivalries in the game will resume this weekend as the Atlanta Braves visit the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game series. Atlanta is off to a strong start this season and as of the beginning of this week, sit in first place in the NL East. Philadelphia is just 2 1/2 games behind them and the Mets will certainly factor into the NL East race and at least early on, Miami could be pesky too. The Phillies have won just two series this season and those came against bottom feeders in Washington and Colorado and will play the Chicago Cubs before the Braves come to town. Atlanta has yet to lose a series with their worst result being a split with Arizona. Health is the big factor for both of these teams and so far so good for both outside of Zack Wheeler missing the start of the season for the Phillies.

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