Above everything else, there's one truth about baseball: it's a long season. Fortunately and unfortunately.
It's a long season in Toronto, which means the AL East-leading Blue Jays won't be able to put their standing in the bank. The same goes for the AL West-leading A's and the NL West-leading Giants.
It's a long season in New York, Tampa Bay, and Boston, as the teams look ahead to a year-long three-team race. From the first week of April through the end of October, the pressure to win never relents.
It's a long season in Seattle and Los Angeles, as preseason contenders hope for early negatives to even out over the course of six months. The baseball schedule is set up such that struggles can be overcome given a sufficiently rapid recovery.
And it's a long season in Houston, which means the Astros probably won't go winless.
We're one week into the year, and over that week, we've seen a lot of different things. Because it's the first week, fans exhibit a tendency to read far too much into far too little, as some of what we've seen is meaningful, and some of it is not. Still, with a deft-enough eye, the skilled analyst may observe early trends that have a high probability of sustaining. Are the six of us such analysts, capable of detecting what's real and what's fake, of separating the wheat from the statistical chaff, of perceiving grains of truth in an April landscape of falsities? Sure, why not.
30. Houston Astros
SBN Blog: The Crawfish Boxes
2010 record: 0-7
Last week's rank: 26
After getting swept by the Giants and Phillies at home, the schedule doesn't get any easier for the Astros, who now head to St. Louis and Chicago. Lance Berkman is still a week away from returning, and this team could be 8-10 games under .500 when he gets there.
SBN Blog: Royals Review
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 28
Two comeback wins are keeping the Royals breathing. Hot starts by Rick Ankiel and Jason Kendall have helped the lineup function, which is just what Dayton Moore planned. This should last.
SBN Blog: Bucs Dugout
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 29
After opening 2-0, the Pirates were brought back to reality a bit, scoring 15 runs in four games and allowing the Diamondbacks to score 13 in one inning Sunday. Zach Duke is off to a 2-0 start and was the first NL starting pitcher to win two games, a day ahead of Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez.
SBN Blog: Federal Baseball
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 30
Stephen Strasburg dominated in the first professional appearance of his career. The Nationals did something too.
26. San Diego Padres
SBN Blog: Gaslamp Ball
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 27
With games in hitter-friendly Chase and Coors, San Diego had the chance to get their offense jump-started, but averaged only 3.2 runs per game. (Ed. note: then they scored 17, at home, against good pitching. Baseball makes sense.) Chris Young did shut down the Diamondbacks, but is now on the DL suffering from shoulder tightness. Unsurprisingly, Adrian Gonzalez leads the offense.
SBN Blog: Let's Go Tribe!
2010 record: 2-5
Last week's rank: 23
Fausto Carmona's first start was a success, giving Tribe fans hope that his long-term contract might not be a full disaster. The Indians haven't exactly started hot, but the goal for 2010 is not to have a horrific, season-killing kickoff. Cleveland did manage to join the long list of teams to lose their home opener, which is always nice.
SBN Blog: Camden Chat
2010 record: 1-6
Last week's rank: 24
The O's are doing just what has been expected: losing. The one-win team is struggling to score runs and it doesn't get any better after the team put All-Star Brian Roberts on the disabled list on Monday. Things don't get any easier for the O's with a west coast trip starting at the end of the week.
23. Cincinnati Reds
SBN Blog: Red Reporter
2010 record: 4-3
Last week's rank: 18
Jay Bruce opened the season on a 1-for-19 slump, while rookie starting pitcher Mike Leake picked up two hits in his major league debut. As a team, the Reds have drawn 18 walks and struck out 55 times in their first seven games, and have a .292 OBP.
22. New York Mets
SBN Blog: Amazin' Avenue
2010 record: 2-4
Last week's rank: 22
After starting with two lost series, every game is suddenly important for Jerry Manuel's job security. Fortunately for him, the Mets may actually have the beginnings of a working rotation.
21. Chicago Cubs
SBN Blog: Bleed Cubbie Blue
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 16
They somehow managed to win three of their first seven despite sub-.210 batting averages from five regulars, including Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto. Carlos Marmol has only allowed one hit while saving two of the wins.
SBN Blog: South Side Sox
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 13
The Southsiders made an early habit of losing one close game after another. Consecutive wins aided in the recovery, but the White Sox were on the verge of becoming the Indians of recent vintage, where a tough start torpedoes the season.
19. Seattle Mariners
SBN Blog: Lookout Landing
2010 record: 2-6
Last week's rank: 12
The Mendoza Line is named after shortstop and career .215 hitter Mario Mendoza, and is said to establish the absolute lower threshold for competent offensive performance. Six Mariner regulars are currently sitting below. Working in the Mariners' favor is that they aren't the Astros.
SBN Blog: Brew Crew Ball
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 15
The heart of the order is very strong, but they're not getting much from Gregg Zaun, Alcides Escobar or Carlos Gomez, leaving a lot of easy outs at the bottom of the lineup. Jim Edmonds started again on Monday, and has played in six of the team's first seven games.
SBN Blog: Bluebird Banter
2010 record: 5-2
Last week's rank: 25
The Jays may be the hottest team in baseball and all they had to do was trade Roy Halladay. The Jays' starting pitching has held up better than anyone had expected and the offense has been strong with the reemergence of Vernon Wells. Aaron Hill just went on the disabled list, though, which is something to keep an eye on.
16. Florida Marlins
SBN Blog: Fish Stripes
2010 record: 4-3
Last week's rank: 17
The Marlins have won their first two series, being on the winning end of several one-run games. Neither Josh Johnson nor Ricky Nolasco has yet asserted himself as the ace, which is bad, but, given the first sentence of this paragraph, is also encouraging in a way.
SBN Blog: AZ Snakepit
2010 record: 4-2
Last week's rank: 20
We expected this team to score runs, but 13 runs in one inning, as they managed against the Pirates on Sunday? In total, they've scored 41 runs over six games - last year, that didn't happen till #13. Starting pitching still looks wobbly, but so far, the hitting has hidden that.
14. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
SBN Blog: Halos Heaven
2010 record: 2-5
Last week's rank: 7
Maybe the only thing keeping Mariners fans from freaking out right now is that the Angels are 2-5, thanks to some lousy pitching at home against the Twins and the A's. The rotation has been pounded for home runs, and the bullpen has nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Like Seattle, the Angels are likely going to be there in the end, but in a tight division, nobody wants to be looking up at a 3.5-game deficit a week into April.
SBN Blog: True Blue LA
2010 record: 2-4
Last week's rank: 11
Outscored the opposition over the last week, thanks to good offense, but went 2-4 thanks to losing all three one-run games in which they were involved. The pitching, both from starters and the bullpen, has been the weakness so far, but catcher Russell Martin has returned to offensive form.
SBN Blog: Athletics Nation
2010 record: 6-2
Last week's rank: 21
The early surprise of the AL has gotten here at the expense of the Angels and Mariners. That the A's are leading the league in runs scored is a fluke, but the performance of the pitching and the defense is not, as this team is set to finish among the league leaders in run prevention. You're going to find few players more underrated than Rajai Davis, who doesn't pack much at the plate, but who seems to save an extra-base hit in the outfield every two or three games.
11. Detroit Tigers
SBN Blog: Bless You Boys
2010 record: 5-2
Last week's rank: 14
The Tigers have played well out of the gate, although playing the Royals helps. Magglio Ordonez isn't helping the team out any, hitting .387 so far, making benching him difficult. That Dontrelle Willis only walked two batters in his first start is one of the most pleasant surprises of the young season.
10. Texas Rangers
SBN Blog: Lone Star Ball
2010 record: 4-3
Last week's rank: 8
Given that this team suffered through a pair of Frank Francisco blown saves in the first week of the season, all things considered they're not doing so poorly. Neftali Feliz's promotion to the closer role is as exciting for many as it is frustrating for some. There is some cause for concern with Rich Harden, who has hardly looked dominant through two starts, but the staff outside of Harden and Francisco has been strong, which bodes very well if Harden and Francisco later return to form.
SBN Blog: McCovey Chronicles
2010 record: 6-1
Last week's rank: 19
Tied for the best record in the National League at 6-1, though sweeping the Astros is a feat only mildly worthy of note. Survived a bruising 13-inning home opener to take two of three from the Braves, and reigning Cy Young champ Tim Lincecum has continued, allowing two runs in 14 IP.
SBN Blog: Talking Chop
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 6
Jason Heyward hit a home run in his first plate appearance and has since hit two more, although he's also struck out ten times in 31 trips to the plate. The pitching is a strength, but it's fun to play with early-season numbers - Monday's disaster in San Diego bumped the team ERA from 2.70 to 4.73. Math!
SBN Blog: Purple Row
2010 record: 3-3
Last week's rank: 10
Sitting at .500 after the first week, with MVP candidate Troy Tulowitzki posting a line of .231/.231/.308 - the offense failed to cash in on a number of opportunities against both the Brewers and Padres. Bullpen has wobbled, but a 2.23 collective ERA to date is what matters.
SBN Blog: Viva El Birdos
2010 record: 5-2
Last week's rank: 5
The team made a nice statement in the season's opening week, taking two of three on the road from both the Reds and Brewers and then shutting out the Astros on Monday. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday combined for eight home runs in the seven games. Two more this week in Houston shouldn't hurt, either.
SBN Blog: Twinkie Town
2010 record: 6-2
Last week's rank: 9
Nobody makes broadcasters happier than the Twins.
SBN Blog: DRays Bay
2010 record: 4-3
Last week's rank: 3
The Rays are just 4-3 on the season after six home games, and they haven't run away with any games except for a 9-3 win over the Yankees. They have beaten the O's three times, but each of those contests was close. Their offense has been spotty and was almost no-hit by CC Sabathia.
SBN Blog: Over The Monster
2010 record: 3-4
Last week's rank: 2
Boston has struggled at the beginning of the season, but two of those losses came against the Yankees. Its biggest area of concern has been the bullpen, which has been solely responsible for at least two of their losses. The offense is putting up good numbers despite David Ortiz being on vacation.
SBN Blog: The Good Phight
2010 record: 6-1
Last week's rank: 4
A Jimmy Rollins' calf injury puts a damper on an otherwise swimming start for the defending NL Champs. Roy Halladay is amused by NL hitters, but NL hitters aren't amused by Roy Halladay, which makes him seem kind of smug and condescending.
SBN Blog: Pinstripe Alley
2010 record: 4-2
Last week's rank: 1
Despite an Opening Night loss, the Yankees are putting up strong numbers on the road. And they have done it against arguably two of the best teams in baseball in the Red Sox and Rays. It also helps when your ace almost pitches a no-hitter.