MLB

By Xavier Sanchez

Major League baseball is in full swing with over a month of games already done. The season began with an end to great Ichiro Suzuki’s career, but brought upon the beginning of many young stars. Those stars join one of the greatest professional sport leagues and get to team up with many in the game today. While many are seeing some early season success, some are not. Take a look below to see who is on fire and who finds themselves thinking “Maybe it’s not my year.”

Here are the athletes putting on a show:

Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF

Los Angeles Dodgers Cody Bellinger is the king of the MLB and no one can stop him. His offensive explosion has helped his team become the fastest to 20 wins this season (the last three to do this, all won the World Series). Bellinger leads or is tied in the major league baseball in runs, hits, home runs, runs batted in, average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Tim Anderson, SS

There’s a new top shortstop in the city of Chicago as long as Tim Anderson keeps things going. Anderson went from an everyday guy on the Chicago White Sox to a top name in the MLB this past month. After a bat flip lead to a scuffle, the south side of Chicago united and vocalized their support for their shortstop. A short time later, Anderson enjoyed another bat flip but this time in a walk-off fashion. He is a guy who players and fans should embrace because he is enjoying being in the moment, and at the end of the day, it’s a game. In addition, it should be noted that Anderson is third in batting average at .352 in his 26 games played. Lastly, Anderson doesn’t get shy on the bases either. He currently leads the MLB with 10 stolen bases and has yet to be caught.

Chris Paddock, SP

Chris Paddock is a key member of the culture change for the San Diego Padres. His early success is proving to be enough to be the ace of a very young starting rotation. The 23-year-old rookie has started six games so far for San Diego. He is 2-1 with 1.91 earned run average over 33 innings pitched. He also has 35 strikeouts, 0.70 WHIP, and keeping batters off base by limiting the opposing batter to a .126 average. Bright future head for Paddock in San Diego.

And here are the ones that are struggling:

Yasiel Puig, OF

Yasiel Puig was a piece in a big off season trade and hasn’t settled in yet with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cuban slugger has played in 29 of the Reds’ 31 games this season but has yet to contribute much offense. One thing he is willing to provide is a set of hands to protect his teammates in a brawl. Other than that, Puig could use some help at the plate. Right now he slashes, .178/.211/.327/.538 with eight extra-base hits, 15 runs batted in, and 30 strike outs.

Chris Sale, SP

The reigning World Series champion Red Sox have left fans confused early in the season. The man who made the last out in that series can’t seem to get many outs in the year 2019. Chris Sale is seeing output that was not anywhere on his radar. He is currently 0-5 in six starts with a 6.30 earned run average. His five losses are the most he has seen by the end of April during his career. For the Red Sox to have success, they need Sale to be their ace.

Plenty of baseball to go and with each month comes a new player that would be added and subtracted from the above list.

Stats as of the end of the day, May 2, 2019