Biggest Surprises of the Major League Baseball Season So Far

Not many players could dream of a better Major League debut week than Detroit Tigers rookie Akil Baddoo had in April.

The very first pitch Badoo saw as a Major League player, he crushed for a home run (and added a great bat flip). In his next game, he hit a grand slam. Then in his next game, he drove in the winning run in extra innings.

Badoo hasn’t quite kept up that torrid pace in the games since his impressive first weekend, but he’s having a good rookie season, hitting .295 with four home runs so far. He has only drawn one walk so far and has 18 strikeouts in 44 at-bats, so it’s a good bet he’ll continue to fall back to Earth a bit. But he has undoubtedly been one of the most entertaining surprises so far early in the 2021 MLB season.

Here are four other unexpected things (very) early in the season.

The Seattle Mariners are teasing everyone

The Seattle Mariners were semi-competitive last season according to their record, finishing at 27-33 and third in the AL West.

Their run-differential of –49 suggested they were much less competitive than their record seemed, though, and they were predicted by many to finish last in the division this season.

This year, though, their pitching has improved, they’re leading the AL West with a 12-7 record, and outfielder Mitch Haniger is having a great offensive season, hitting over .300 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. He’s helped improve an offense that really struggled last sseason.

They’re in a competitive division with the fast-charging Oakland A’s behind them, but Seattle looks much improved and like a team that could hang out in the race all season. But speaking of the A’s …

Oakland is red hot

The A’s have won 11 straight games after a 1-7 start to the season, and very much look like the World Series contender they hoped to be.

Oakland’s pitching has been worse than expected so far and the offense has been better, but during their winning streak, they’ve had four shutouts and held opponents to three or fewer runs three other times, so it appears their tough pitching staff is rounding into form after a poor start.

First baseman Matt Olson has also provided some nice punch in the lineup. He’s hitting .316 with six home runs so far this season. Oakland’s hitters slumped for long portions of last season, so the fact that Olson and Jed Lowrie are both hitting over .300 is a good sign for the offense.

The Red Sox are back?

No one expected the Red Sox to be as bad as they were last season, especially with former manager Alex Cora back after a year in exile due to his role in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal when he was a bench coach with the Astros. 

But the Red Sox haven’t just improved, they’ve been downright dominant. They’re +23 run-differential is second in all of baseball, only behind the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Boston’s pitching staff has been solid, but the offense has been great. Their 106 runs scored are second in all of baseball, only trailing Cincinnati. 

Pretty much the entire AL Central

Kansas City was predicted by most to be trying to avoid getting overtaken by Detroit and finishing last in the division, yet somehow the Royals are leading the Central despite having a –1 run-differential.

The Minnesota Twins were supposed to defend their AL Central title from a season ago, or at the very least be the leading contender for the Wild Card spot. Instead, they’re struggling and in last place in the division.

The Chicago White Sox have reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu and star Tim Anderson on the roster, but their biggest offensive star has been catcher Yermin Mercedes, who is hitting .390 with four home runs.

The season is long, and Chicago and Minnesota have too much talent not to overtake Kansas City in the standings, but this division has been among the most fun and unpredictable so far.

Yadier Molina would like his curtain call

Molina is one of a few former All-Stars still hanging around in the twilight of their careers.

But Miguel Cabrera is hitting below .200 with just one home run in Detroit and Albert Pujols is hitting .229 with three home runs for the Angels. 

Molina, on the other hand, is hitting .322 with four home runs at age 38. He’s also still playing catcher, which is insane considering Cabrera and Pujols both rarely play in the field anymore.

Molina hasn’t hit over .300 for a season since 2016, so it’s highly unlikely he keeps that pace up. But it’s definitely fun to watch one of the greatest catchers of all-time still doing his thing for the Cardinals.