Baseball is back in full swing, and the first week of the season has already had a lot of excitement. However, as with all things, sports fans and people love to overreact and slam the panic button ASAP. Here are the top three overreactions from the first seven days of the MLB season.
3 Huge Overreactions from The First Week in MLB
1. The Phillies Have a Worlds Series Hangover
A rough start is always something that fans fear. Early and consistent losing will always lead to the local radio phone lines lighting up like a Christmas tree. However, even just a few games in the season, the defending NL Champs have had some big blows to their roster.
Bryce Harper was on a tear before he took a pitch off his hand that fractured his thumb, costing him something like 39 games, including the All-Star Break. It got worse for the Phillies’ left-handed slugger as he was diagnosed with a torn UCL, leading to his Tommy John surgery in the offseason. When healthy, Harper is a force in that lineup. In his MVP year of 2021, he had a line of .309/.429/.615 with 35 home runs and 84 RBIs.
Rhys Hoskins is the other major part of the Phillies lineup that is absent. Hoskins was lost for the season after tearing his ACL in spring training. He is a vital right-handed hitter in the lineup who averages 30 home runs. They could trade for another first baseman closer to the deadline to fill the hole that losing his bat created.
2. The Mets Won’t Be A Contender In The NL East
The Mets probably had the most significant off-season in years. They signed Justin Verlander and Carlos Correa (that was, of course, before the Mets backed out due to medical concerns) while landing the Japanese import Kodai Senga. All signs pointed toward the Mets steamrolling to an NL East title.
During the World Baseball Classic, Mets’ closer Edwin Diaz tore his PCL while pitching for Puerto Rico. This was a freak injury that cost the Mets their closer. He also signed a five-year, 102 million-dollar deal to stay in New York. Again this is a freak injury that the Mets can look to fix as the season continues onwards.
The Mets are 3-4 as of writing this article. They aren’t 1-6 or winless. They are a .500 team at this point in the season. They just called up one of their top prospects, catcher Francisco Alvarez. He could light a spark and get the team back on track. Not to mention Brett Baty might be the next guy call-up to the Major League club. Especially if Eduardo Escobar continues to struggle at the plate.
3. Seattle Is done
Like the Phillies, the Mariners haven’t gotten off to the best of starts. They opened the season facing two hopeful playoff teams in, the Angels and the Guardians. They lost both series by winning just a single game in both.
I did say the Mariners would regress and miss the playoffs this year, but they will play better as the year progresses. The Angels and Guardians both have significant offenses and strong starting pitching. To be fair to the Mariners, they had the best baseball record in baseball in one-run games last year, which is hard to repeat.
Another factor in the cold start might be the weather. It was cold in the pacific northwest to start the year. Temperatures were in the 30s during the game. The cold weather affects both the pitching and hitting. For the offense, the cold air is thicker than the warmer air during summer. Plenty of hard-hit baseballs lost stream and were out at the wall or the warning track. For pitchers, this can affect the breaking pitches, sliders, curveballs, etc. The ball is harder to grip can lead to pitches hanging up where pitchers can get it.
At the end of the day, baseball is back in full swing, and only seven days into the year, the craziness is already starting to take shape.
Main Image: Michael Thomas Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
