The first week of baseball is now officially in the books. With the new season, comes some overreacting, passion, and excitement from all 30 fanbases. Things may have gone good or bad for your team in the first week. Here are our top 3 winners and losers from week one.
Winner: Tampa Bay Rays
This had to be a given, right? This team is clicking on all cylinders right now. Coming into this morning, Tampa is the only undefeated team left in the league.
The Rays are a team fans can never count out no matter the product they throw on the field. This pitching staff has skyrocketed in potential. Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, and Drew Rasmussen each debuted with six scoreless innings. They don't even have Tyler Glasnow back yet.
This lineup, led by Randy Arozarena, is also showing up. Things are heating up in Tampa Bay and it doesn't look like their cooling down anytime soon.
Winner: Atlanta Braves
Also another team, due to the front office, fans can never count out. The Braves enter this morning with a 6-1 record.
On opening day, Atlanta's Max Fried went down with a hamstring injury and the rest of the rotation has stepped up in his place.
This lineup started off hot as well, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, and Austin Riley have looked unstoppable as they have slugged seven homers together along with a .320 batting average.
Winner: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers were definitely a wild card heading into 2023. After losing opening day, they have come back to win five in a row.
Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell are the two names doing it all for the Brew Crew.
Collectively, Milwaukee outscored their opponents 38-12 since. The Brewers look good right now and they deserve a spot as a winner of week 1.
Loser: Philadelphia Phillies
As of this morning, the Phillies are 1-5. Yes, the defending NL champions. The Phillies just got done with a long road trip that started down in Texas and finished in the Bronx. Philadelphia started the season 0-4, a first since 2016. They did manage to take one from the Yankees on Tuesday, the game that Matt Strahm started. Everything that could have gone wrong for this team, has.
The pitching staff has been just terrible. Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Tajuan Walker gave up 13 runs collectively. There's unfortunately more, the bullpen was even worse. Combining for the leagues lowest bullpen ERA, 8.44, just isn't what anyone expected out of this ball club.
Finally, the lineup just has not been hitting, combining for a total of four home runs. The Phillies are a great team, there's no doubting that, once this club finds its groove and gets healthy, they will be looking to stay off the "loser" list as the season goes on.
Loser: New York Mets
This one might be a bit of a surprise. The Mets are loaded with talent up and down this roster. From the staff, bullpen, and lineup, there's little to no excuse why this team can't turn it around in a hurry.
After the news broke that Justin Verlander hit the IL with a teres major muscle diagnosis, reduced inflammation was the official word from the Mets. New York knew the staff would take a hit. However, like explained above, this team is still in a good spot.
Remember our winner from earlier? The Brewers? They basically dismantled the Mets in their 3-game series. Largely due to why New York made this list. Everytime the Mets would strike, the Brewers would come right back with a shot of their own.
The Mets went a total of 20-straight scoreless innings and were outscored 19-0 in that time. The lineup was just ice cold and the pitching wasn't much better either.
The Mets did however go 3-1 to start the year and look to get back on track with a brand new series against the Marlins, starting later today.
Loser: San Diego Padres
Just like the Mets and Phillies, there's no questioning the talent on this roster. Up & down this lineup is oozing with stardom. They simply just underperformed this past week. Going 3-4 to start 2023.
They split both of their series with the Rockies and Diamonbacks to open the year. Going 2-2 against Colorado and 1-1 against Arizona. As well as a loss last night to Atlanta. The main reason why they are on our list is due to the opponents they just spilt those series with.
The Rockies and Diamondbacks are no where near the level the Padres are. They simply underperformed in week 1. As their series goes on with Atlanta, the Padres could fall lower in the standings.
However, as stated above, this team is only a matter of time away from exploding to the expectations they have set on them.
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