30 Thoughts on 30 Teams (Part 1)
It's the first day of month. Let's check in on how every team has done these last thirty days, starting with the AL East.
Hi friends-
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Ok. We are going to try something new here. During the first week of every month, I’m going to post thoughts on all 30 teams. Last time I did this on April 3rd you guys seemed to enjoy it, so each division will get its own day. Also, I forgot the Guardians when I did this a month ago, which is funny, because I like the Guardians and watch a lot of their games. As such, the Guards mayyyyyy get their own special day. It’s only fair!
So let’s dive in.
We started with the NL West last time so we’ll begin with that division’s twin flame, the AL East, this time.
THOUGHTS ON EVERY AL EAST TEAM ON MAY 1st:
Yankees (18-13)
The good: Aaron Judge has an on-base percentage of .521 and a .761 slug. These are cartoon numbers. These are Barry Bonds roided to the gils numbers. These are typos. According to the great Sarah Lange, Judge is just the fifth player in MLB history to enter May with 10+ HR and a .425 batting average. He may not be at his peak yet, which is terrifying. And I don’t mean to be a jerk here, but I can’t help but wonder if the Yankees would have won the World Series last year if Judge had performed at anything approximating this level last October. Gulp.
More good: Paul Goldschmidt (so far) has been a clear upgrade over Anthony RIzzo at first, and Max Fried has looked like a top ten pitcher in baseball. Cody Bellinger has been fine. The Yankees made some big moves after they lost Juan Soto in free agency, and they’ve largely panned out. Good job to Brian Cashman for having a plan B, C, and D.
The bad: superstar closer Devin Williams has been atrocious, and was just removed from the role. All this after he was singlehandedly responsible for getting the Yankees to change their facial hair policy! The audacity to then go stink! Anyway, Williams being bad isn’t really even *that* bad for the Bombers, as they can simply plus in their stud closer from last year, Luke Weaver, without skipping a beat. The Yanks are in the driver’s seat in a tough division for the moment, due to Mike Elias not signing any pitchers to play for the Orioles, because he’s obsessed with wasting Gunnar Henderson’s prime.
Red Sox (17-15)
The good: Alex Bregman is off to the best start of his career, and the ugly spring training third base drama with Rafael Devers seems to be water under the Bunker Hill Bridge by now. After an rough start, Devers is also heating up, and performing like the freak slugger we know he is.
More good: Rookie Kristian Campbell looks like he might be the starting second baseman in the all-star game (based on merit, though we have a ways to go, and regression is certainly possible). Ace Garret Crochet has been as good as advertised, and seems to give the Sox needed confidence that they will win every time he takes the ball (they are 5-2 in his turns).
The bad: