MLB slowly getting back to normal

After a month and a half, it catches my eye that things are slowly getting back to normal in Major League Baseball.
Back to normal? Yes back to normal. What I mean to say is that the teams with a flying start are slowly cooling off and geting more down to earth again.

So far the season went like the most of us may not have expected. Who would ever think that the Astros would be in first place after the first month of the season. In their last ten games they went 4-6, so it seems that they are cooling off a bit. But since they are in first place, rumours are floating around that the Astros may look to improve their rotation. You can wonder if a team with a $72 million pay roll has room to get improvement, but according to the Astros brass there is.

Same thing with the New York Mets. The other team from New York also went off a great start, even winning eleven in a row, taking first place in the NL East. But in their last ten games they also went 4-6, thanks to two losses vs the Phillies and one vs the Cubs.
The favorite for the NL East pennant, the Washington Nationals are picking up pace again. After an abysmal start, they are 8-2 in their last ten games and with a 19-16 record, only 1.5 games out of first place.

The 2014 Wild Card game winners, Pittsburgh Pirates, also didn’t start in a great way. But at least they are at .500 now, still 6.5 games behind the first place Cardinals,
The Giants are also crawling back. They won six of their last ten games and are now at .500.

It even seems that the Yankees are cooling off a bit. 5-5 in their last ten games, losing two in a row. I don’t think that they have to be ashamed to be beaten by Chris Archer. That kid is a great pitcher. But being kept in check by Nathan Karns, a pitcher who only had a cup of tea in the Bigs in 2013 and 2014, makes me raise my eyebrows. The problem with teams that are hot is that they will cool down at some point.

And as far as the Red Sox do so far, the club is punished for the vision of their brass not to resign Jon Lester or another ace-like pitcher. Spending big on free agent fielders/hitters did not solve the club’s pitching problems. Neither did the firing of pitching coach Juan Nieves. When a free spending team underperforms, it is easily forgotten that a coach led them to the second best ERA in 2012 and to the World Series. It shows that baseball is a cold hearted business.

At least there is one team so far that shows that last year;s performance wasn’t a fluke: the Kansas City Royals. A 21-13 record isn’t to shabby for a fluke. Or is it?

We are not even halfway the season, so still anything can happen.When I look to the standings, things are slowly going back to normal. And that can also mean that the Red Sox will crawl back to the top of the standings. It is still a long way until October. So only then we will see if the Astros and the Mets are for real and if the regular order can be restored.