5 MLB Holy Cows!

It's early in the season, but what is nice about the early season is a lot of early surprises. Some will sustain, others will level out to expectations as the season wears on. But I thought I would take a minute to name a few of the holy cow things about this early MLB season:

1. The Brewers really stink. And as a Brewer fan I hate this, but this team is really struggling all around. Their pitching has been a disaster, especially the rotation which is ranked 27th in the league with a unsightly 5.68 ERA (and think that includes Jimmy Nelson's 8 shut-out inning performance!). While few had high expectations for the rotation (seeing it largely as an entire rotation of mid-rotation quality lacking a real top rotation arm or bottom feeder) that may not be too surprising, especially as they have played 5 of their 8 games against really good offensive teams (Colorado and St. Louis), teams which have given the Brewers a hard time these last few years. But more disturbing is the offense, which is showing no life. The team is last in the league in home-runs with 3, 27th in runs with 23, but surprisingly have been third best in avoiding strikeouts. This is the opposite of what we have come to expect of this offense. Typically Milwaukee has been classified as a strong offense, especially in the power department but one that strikes out too much and walks too little (although they are still in the bottom half of the league in the walks department). But the lack of hitting was what ruined this team's playoff chances late last year and it has continued (although their best hitter to date has been acquired first baseman Adam Lind). Many pegged this team for 4th in the league, I pegged it for 3rd. But they are digging a hole early in a really deep division. The good news is that this struggling is because both offense and pitching are failing, and at least one is bound to level itself, so how bad they will be all year is still to be seen (although I recently read from fangraphs that the Brewers are one of the teams most likely to really disappoint and struggle, with the author even suggesting a 90+ loss season would not be surprising).
2. Nelson Cruz is still hitting home runs. Cruz had a career year last season with Baltimore and it netted him a multi-year 57 million dollar deal. And he is earning his keep, leading the league early with 6 home runs (which if you hadn't noticed was twice the total for the entire Brewers' team!). He's featuring a gaudy OPS of 1.192. Cruz has shown power for years, but between PED scandal and last year being such a career year (and in a hitter friendly AL-East) you had to wonder how much he will bring to the pitcher friendly AL-West. Thus far, he's bringing a lot and making Seattle look good early for their investment (since at this stage in his career, the bat is all they are really investing in from him). 
3. Alex Rodriguez remembers how to hit. There is a lot of time for regression obviously, but A-Rod is back for the first time in over a year and he is putting up solid numbers, sporting a .286/.394/.571 line through his first nine games. Considering the Yankees have to pay him ludicrous amounts of money, they should be happy to see some early contributions. Half of his hits thus far have been for extra bases. Since he will be primarily a DH, they need that kind of offense from his bat. The Yankees have a lot of problems and performance questions, but so far A-Rod is not one of them. If he keeps it up he could be a candidate for comeback player of the year (although my AL candidates based on early returns are Kendrys Morales and Billy Butler). Who votes for that award? Well, A-Rod has burned so many bridges I'm not sure it matters, short of an MVP season (in which he wouldn't win the award since BWAA votes on that) no one is gonna vote him for any other award.
4. The Padres' offensive overhaul seems to be working. For starters, they are hitting some home runs (although still in the bottom half of the league in that regard). But they are 5th in the majors currently for batting average, 7th in OPS, 3rd in doubles, and just missed the top 3rd of the league in runs. While that may not scream elite, it certainly is a serviceable offense, which is a far cry from last year when they were last in doubles, 28th in home runs, last in OPS, last in batting average, and last in runs scored. You gotta love this team's pitching, and if this offense can keep rating in the upper half of the league for hitting they will be in real good shape to compete. They are already ranked 5th in ERA and wins, and 3rd in strikeouts. Their biggest concern currently should be limiting walks as they are among the worst in the league in doing that.
5. Shane Greene is off to a surprising start. Greene and Simon came into Detroit replacing Porcello and Scherzer. It didn't seem too favorable of a change. But so far Greene is looking like he could be a great replacement and mainstay for this Detroit team. Through his first two starts, the kid has thrown 16 innings in which he has allowed only one unearned run! He's given up only 7 hits and one walk  (good for a .500 WHIP!) although he's only racked up 8 k's (although a k/BB ratio of 8 is quite impressive). Obviously he will give up some runs this year, but he is certainly showing that he should be able to improve upon his 3.78 ERA last year which was good enough to be just above the league average (ERA+ of 102). And if he can bring his strikeout numbers back up (last year a k/9 of 9.3) he could be a really nice get for the Tigers. Most people seemed to think there wasn't much to Greene, but maybe this is a sign that he's made the right adjustments to be an above average pitcher.