While the 2010 Major League Baseball season is only two weeks old, we have already seen some amazing things.
Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez no-hit the Atlanta Braves on April 17. It marked the first no-hitter in Rockies history, which dates back to 1993. Now only three teams — the Rays, Padres and Mets — are without a no-hitter.
Speaking of the Braves, rookie sensation Jason Heyward is already running away with the Rookie of the Year vote. He homered in his first at-bat and has started the season on fire, hitting .302 with three home runs through 12 games. He is displaying all the tools that made him the game’s number-one preseason prospect.
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals held their own through the opening weeks. These two projected last-place finishers of 7-5 and 7-6, respectively.
The Pirates have good young talents Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones at the top of their game.
The Nationals still haven’t seen their best, with phenomenal pitcher Stephen Strasburg still in Double-A.
In the absence of Josh Hamilton’s production, Nelson Cruz is pushing for MVP votes. The Rangers right fielder set a record with six home runs in his first eight games in 2010.
And who can forget the hometown Rays? They tied their franchise record with seven straight road wins, including their first four-game sweep at Fenway Park. B.J. Upton already has four home runs after taking until July to reach four in 2009.
Closer Rafael Soriano has found occasional trouble, but has yet to blow a save.
The decisions on re-signing star players loom ahead, but this team’s focus right now is contending for a title.
With the positives come the negatives.
The Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros got off to historically bad starts.
New Baltimore closer Mike Gonzalez flamed out early, blowing two saves before heading to the disabled list. The team began the season 2-12.
Houston lost its first eight games. They bounced back to 3-9, but they still look helpless. They lack pitching, hitting and just about everything else.
The Boston Red Sox started their season 4-9. Yes, the Red Sox already sit six games out of first place in mid-April.
Their injury bugs and lineup weaknesses may not die down anytime soon.
Bad starts plagued star players as much as they did teams. David Ortiz hit .158 with no home runs in his first ten games and is often finding himself benched.
Mark Teixeira started with an embarrassing .119 average. Carlos Zambrano continues to struggle with keeping calm. His ERA was 9.45 through three starts.
Many of these early trends can still turn around, some for the better, others for the worse. But if what we’ve seen so far is any indication, we are in for a history-making 2010 season.
(These statistics as of Monday April 19.)