Your Week 4 Fan Confidence Booms And Busts

And we’ve returned for our weekly check-in on fan confidence around the league, where we attempt to measure whose confidence has soared the most, and whose confidence has sank to the greatest degree over the last week of play. I don’t think I need to tell you how seriously you should take what you read below. It’s on the internet and everything.

Fan Confidence Booms

The Mets! The Mets are here! After a 2-12 stretch that saw them fall to the bottom of the league, the Mets have won six in a row, and even though those six have come against some of the National League’s habitual bottom-feeders, they all count just the same, and the Mets fans’ll take it considering they lost a series to the Nationals just a few weeks ago. I don’t know how anyone couldn’t have confidence in a team with Jason Isringhausen on it. He’s so effective and dependable!

Despite their Wednesday loss, the Marlins have won ten of their last 13 games, and what’s more, they’re doing this while getting nothing from Hanley Ramirez, getting nothing from Javier Vazquez, and watching offensive leader Logan Morrison go on the disabled list. Those things we thought would have to go the Marlins’ way in order for them to contend haven’t really gone their way, and they’re still contending. When their luck turns and those things do start going the Marlins’ way, they’re probably going to win all of their games.

It was only a matter of time before the Braves woke up, and here they are, fresh off a sweep of the Giants and a near-sweep of the Padres. They didn’t gain ground in their division, but they didn’t lose any either, and hey I just realized the Braves’ pitching staff is #1 in strikeouts and #2 in walks. Just imagine if Dan Uggla ever starts hitting the ball. They might score runs!

Times are tough in Texas, with Josh Hamilton and most of the pitching staff backpacking through DLtopia, but still they were able to reclaim first place over the last week thanks to a sweep of the Royals and some struggles by the Angels. We figured it would take some injuries for the Rangers to fall back to the pack, but this is a team that can handle some adversity, kind of like the main protagonists in Step Up, and Step Up 2, and Step Up 3.

The Twins have only played four games since the last time we checked in, but they won three of those, and more importantly, it looks like Joe Mauer is nearing a return from his mystifying weak legs. As Jason Kubel is the only player on the team with an OPS over .762, that’ll be a welcome comeback. Sure, Francisco Liriano looks like a big ol pile of crap, but...well look, I had a hard time picking the fifth team here. Let’s just move on. Yay Twins.

Fan Confidence Busts

Last year, a lot of people thought that Jose Bautista was a fluke, and that the Padres were a fluke. Jose Bautista was not a fluke. The Padres might have been a fluke. Oh, the run prevention is there - the Padres are #1 in ERA, like they always are - but the team’s best hitter has been a guy I’d wager 90% of baseball fans have never heard of, and I mean that in only the least complimentary way. The Padres are last in team average, last in team OBP, and last in team SLG. I suppose if it’s any consolation, it’s been too big a disaster for even Adrian Gonzalez to fix.

I had fun pretending the Royals were relevant for that week or two, but now they’ve dropped from 10-4 to 12-12, and all the positive vibes Royals fans were feeling early on are being shoved out of the way by that familiar feeling of despondence. If only anybody on the entire team could pitch.

There’s nothing quite like losing a buzz by getting swept at home by the Red Sox in four games. While the Angels recovered by taking two of three from the A’s, this is a team that still took first place and then immediately dropped with a thud. Angels fans are a cocky bunch, but they also get cranky when things aren’t going their way, and hey look Vernon Wells has a .482 OPS!

Over the past week, the Nationals went 1-5 and lost a combined total of 15.5 games in the standings to their four division rivals. On the plus side, now the Nationals and their fans get to occupy the butt groove they formed in last place after spending a little while in an unfamiliar seat.

Maybe it’s time to get a little worried. The Giants will continue to get the benefit of the doubt just because they’re the defending world champs, but they’ve now lost five of six, including a sweep at the hands of the Braves. Just because Pablo Sandoval is now in the proper physical condition to carry the offense on his back doesn’t mean it’s in the team’s best interests to let him do so, any more than it’s in my girlfriend’s best interests to have me do all the cooking and housework. Sure, I can do it alone, but you’d probably rather me not.