Nine Games In and 2015 is already Showing Some Changing Trends

With the season a mere week and a half old, it would be ridiculous to believe certain events will continue for the remaining 152 games or so.  But I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge a few interesting trends in the National League that could hold up.  Here are some observations from afar.

1) The San Francisco Giants (3-8)

Their offense is deplorable.  Yes, others are even performing worse, but these are the defending World Series champions.  When Gregor Blanco is batting fifth in your lineup, that's a team some serious offensive shortcomings.  They are battling injuries (Pence, Cain, Belt)  but even the most faithful Giant fan has to be concerned about their 7 games losing streak and winless home record.  Is this a team that will rebound?  There was a time in 2014 when we all thought they were lifeless and doomed (remember the Dan Uggla series?), how wrong we were.  It would be foolish to count them out, but Bruce Bochy has to be a bit concerned with their 3-8 start.

2) The Washington Nationals (4-6)

This is a good team playing very sloppy baseball.  I expect them to turn things around and win their division going away, but Harper, Zimmerman and Desmond are batting .237, .162 and .211.  Then you have Dan Uggla (.130)  logging in significant time at second base.  Add to that they aren't catching the ball with 11 errors committed including a few costly game deciding mental errors and it makes you wonder.  Nah, too much pitching and too many good players.  They'll overcome the problems.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado makes a spectacular catch before diving into the stands against the Giants on Tuesday night. (photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

3) The Colorado Rockies (7-2)

Everyone's predicted cellar dwellers are sitting atop of the west, having beaten up on the Brewers, Cubs and Giants.  Is this a result of easy scheduling at the beginning of the season or are the Rocks really this good?  Time will tell as they are about to meet their match with Kershaw and Greinke the next two games.  I think the truth is that a lot of people overlooked this team in the off-season, and they probably end up at around .500, which is a significant improvement for a team that won just 66 games in 2014.  Any team with a healthy Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzski in the lineup needs to be reckoned with.  To many people's surprise  over their first 82 innings of play, the Rockies pitching staff is posting a 2.41 ERA, trailing only St. Louis for the National League lead.

4) The New York Mets (7-3)

A pitching staff with Jacob DeGrom and a healthy Matt Harvey at the top of the rotation is fairly formidable.  Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon aren't slouches either.  Suddenly you look at a Mets team that can compete if those four horses stay healthy.  New York's bullpen has a lot of question marks and offensively there are players that haven't arrived yet, (i.e. Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares), but if they get some decent offensive output that puts them in the middle of the pack in the N.L. offensively, the Mets just might surprise some people.

5) The Los Angeles Dodgers (6-3)

Even skeptical me is liking things as they stand right now.  This team was built to get on base.  With an OBP of .357, they dominate the league with the second best team in base percentage (Colorado) a full 26 points behind the Dodgers.  Clayton Kershaw hasn't even pitched well yet.  Hyun-Jin Ryu hasn't faced a batter and Yasiel Puig has slumped, yet to make significant impact.  Still the Dodgers keep winning, just coming off a 3 game sweep of a very good Seattle Mariners team.  With four comeback wins, and some after the 8th inning, the Dodgers in week one have surpassed their late inning comeback totals from last season's division winning club.  

I predicted a .500 Dodger club due to the starting pitching question marks, but I'm slowly beginning to realize that this club's offense will overcome those issues.  Friedman and Zaidi have constructed a ball club that gets on base and has a strong defensive foundation up the middle.  Though they have committed 9 errors in 9 games, some stellar defensive play has saved this team some games.  Rollins, Kendrick, Pederson, Gonzalez and Puig have all flashed outstanding leather a times.   Watch for the defense to improve and the Dodgers to be recognized as one of the best fielding teams in the league by mid-season.

Yimi Garcia has 10 strikeouts in his first 6 IP this young season.  (AP photo)

One last thing.  The bullpen may have arrived.  Yimi Garcia, Pedro Baez, Paco Rodriguez, Joel Peralta, and Juan Nicasio have all stepped it up.  Hatcher and Howell have had their struggles, but have also shined at times too.  When Kenley Jansen returns to the fold, we will look at this Dodger bullpen with confidence.  Now if only we could get Mattingly to manage the bullpen with some intelligence and stop relying on these pigeon-holed roles that had has deeply engrained in his mind. You can't take the Torre trained managerial tendencies out of him easily.  Dodger fans will have to live with Donnie and his decision making, that is sure to cost the club a half a dozen games this year.

Did anyone notice in the comeback win the other night, how Mattingly had Rollins bunting against Fernando Rodney?  The same Rodney that Rollins had pounded in the past with a 1.000 batting average.  Thank goodness he failed on the bunt attempt because JRoll's gapper would have never happened had he executed the sacrifice.  These are the maddening managerial decisions that Dodger fans will have to put up with until Friedman and Zaidi have seen enough and decide to give Mattingly the axe.  A nice guy...but a very questionable strategic manager.