The first two weeks of the MLB season have already given fans a lot to talk about. Some teams are showing that they can dominate, while others are surprising everyone with unexpected performances.
Pitchers who struggled last season are suddenly starting to look like Cy Young contenders and rotations that seemed shaky are starting to click. The big question now is which of these early trends will stick and which are just noise.
Fox Sports MLB analyst Dontrell Willis looks at the storylines already shaping the season.
Yankees have a historically great rotation: overreaction
Cam Schlitler has a 1.62 ERA through three starts. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Willis’s opinion: “It’s an overreaction, but they’ll be good. I like what I’ve seen of Max Fried in a Yankees uniform. He’s been excellent… 19 wins last year, 2-0 this year. Will Warren has a two ERA pitching today, and Cam Schittler is one of the best young arms in baseball. It’s been really fun to watch him since he rolled over the Red Sox in the postseason last year. You see his confidence coming down. “Besides, they bring back (Carlos) Roden. No one wants to see that Yankee inning.”
The Yankees have gotten off to a strong 8-3 start, largely driven by how locked in the rotation they have been at the start of the year. As a group, it has a 2.47 ERA — tied for second-best in baseball as of Thursday. Fried and Shitler lead the total, allowing a total of six runs in 36.2 innings.
Sandy Alcantara is back in Cy Young form: no exaggeration
Sandy Alcantara has a 0.74 ERA so far this season. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Willis’s opinion: “Breaking all my records all at once. It’s fun to watch him. The 30-year-old is finally healthy. The efficiency and command is there, not only with that sinker but with secondary pitches. The only thing that’s going to be unfortunate is the Fighting Fishes are not in the running. He’s going to be a big trade piece once again.”
Alcantara has struggled to stay on the field in recent seasons due to a number of injuries, but this year he looks completely refreshed. Through 24.1 innings, he owns a 0.74 ERA. He has also recorded 18 strikeouts and re-established himself as one of the league’s most impactful players.
Despite the Marlins not being viewed as serious contenders this season, he remains firmly in the mix for a Cy Young-caliber season.
Alcantara is also closing in on the franchise milestone in total games, finishing 13th – just two behind Willis, who has set the record with 15. Willis joked on the broadcast that Alcantara could surpass that figure in a matter of weeks and at this pace, it is hard to argue otherwise.
The Angels Are a Playoff Team: Overreaction
Is this the year Mike Trout and the Angels get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2014? (Photo by Ryan Sun/Getty Images)
Willis’s opinion: “It’s early, but I like how Mike Trout is playing every day. Zach Neto is going to take the next step. We talked about (Jorge) Soler in the power department, but that rotation is a little shaky. (Jose) Soriano has been excellent, but (Usei) Kikuchi and company have struggled. They need to play better, but the AL is also a little shaky, so maybe they can falter there.”
Not only have the Angels been one of the early surprises this season, but their rotation is off to a strong start and Trout looks as healthy as he has in recent memory. He may have been overlooked entering the year, but Soriano is becoming impossible to ignore as a legitimate threat at the top of the rotation.
Soriano is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20 innings this season. If the Angels are going to compete in a competitive AL West, they’ll need a true ace – and Soriano is making a strong case to be exactly that.
