3 surprising early-season stats, including the mashing Kansas City Royals
The 2024 baseball season is barely underway, but this is the best time of year to look at statistics and wonder “what if?” Mookie Betts has five home runs this season in 12 games. On a per-game basis, he’s on pace for 68 dingers. A Dodger breaking the single-season home run record held by Barry Bonds (73) would sure be something. Will it happen? Probably not. Maybe next year when the Oakland A’s move into their minor-league ballpark that will be the “most intimate ballpark in Major League Baseball.”
The Houston Astros enter play on Monday at 3-7, tied with the Oakland A’s, who are tanking, at the bottom of the AL West. They rank 13th in baseball in ERA through ten games with a cumulative 3.89, but Ronel Blanco is doing a lot of the heavy lifting by allowing one hit in 15 innings. They’ll get going as a group, but they’re already 3.5 back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West. It’s plenty early to make up that difference, but the Rangers aren’t even at full strength just yet.
Related: MLB stat leaders 2024
When you think of the Tampa Bay Rays, the first thing most fans will say is “pitching.” Maybe not this year. The team currently ranks 26th in team ERA with a 5.24, thanks to two high-scoring affairs at Coors Field in Colorado. They also gave up eight and nine runs to the Toronto Blue Jays at home to open the
season, and then another nine against the Rangers at home. They’re facing good teams to begin the year, but it’s still surprising to see Tampa Bay falter on the mound at any point in the season.
