Mains: The April of our discontent
From SABR member Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus on May 8, 2018:
Don’t worry, this isn’t going to another article about how cold it was in April, or about how there were a ton of strikeouts, a paucity of hits, and a parade of relievers. You already knew that.
No, I’m going to talk about inequality.
Going into the season, the consensus was that there were seven super teams: Each of last year’s division winners (Red Sox, Indians, Astros, Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers), plus the Yankees. There was a handful of bad teams: Marlins, Reds, Tigers, Royals, maybe the Padres—does that sound about right? Everybody else was in the middle.
It hasn’t played out quite like that. The Nationals and Dodgers ended the first month below .500. The Cubs were only a game-and-a-half out of fourth place. Cleveland was outscored. And the 11-16 Tigers were, well, not good, but not execrable either. So maybe MLB wasn’t as stratified, at least in April, as we’d thought.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/39797/flu-like-symptoms-april-discontent/
Originally published: May 8, 2018. Last Updated: May 8, 2018.