With two weeks of action nearly in the books, several surprises have already taken place, most notably Baltimore with the best record in baseball with a 7-2 record. What makes their start even more impressive is the Orioles have just a +4 run differential, a far cry from the LA Dodgers who lead the game at +21.
Another big surprise in the American League East is the start by Toronto. The Blue Jays are considered playoff contenders, but with a 1-9 start, including losing their last seven, it appears it could be a rebuilding year for the Canadian squad.
Detroit is another club off to a strong start as the Tigers have started the 2017 season at 7-3. Last years AL World Series team from Cleveland has struggled out of the gate, going just 4-6 heading into the weekend and three games back in the American League Central.
Houston leads the AL West with a 7-4 record, one game ahead of the upstart LA Angels and four games over Seattle, who where picked by several MLB experts to contend for a championship this season.
Chicago entered the year on top of the power rankings and the Cubs figure to be in the mix in the near future, but at 6-4, they sit second in the NL Central and third overall in the power rankings.
The Dodgers have the biggest run differential in the game, but at 6-5, the team isn’t playing like most anticipated. Arizona leads the NL West, but with all five teams within 2.5 games of each other, fans should have plenty of excitement in the coming weeks.
It looks like another strong season is in store with several squads looking strong to start the year. The next few weeks should whittle down some sides, but for the middle of April, it looks like several teams are set for a big year and a chance to play in October.
