We spent this past offseason noticing the polarization of the league, with the shrinking middle class of organizations meaning there was more room for exceptional play on both ends of the spectrum. We’ve already seen plenty of teams play at an extremely high level this season. The Red Sox won 17 of their first 19 games, and the Angels were keeping pace with them very early on. The Astros have been just as good as we expected them to be, and the Yankees have recent turned it on in a big way. Only the Diamondbacks are making this kind of history, though.
The Diamondbacks are making history to start 2018
Sunday morning’s Say Hey, Baseball includes a historic start to Arizona’s season, Pablo Sandoval on the mound, and the next potential Yankee star.
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On Saturday, in a game that took ten innings, Arizona was able to defeat the Nationals in a nailbiter to give the three straight wins. More importantly, it clinched the three-game series the two sides are playing in over the weekend. That gives the Diamondbacks nine consecutive series victories to start the season, making them the first team to be able to do that since the 1907 Cubs. Lots of things happen in baseball every year, but any time you can match early-century records you have reached a new level of excellence.
It remains to be seen if the Diamondbacks will be able to keep this up, of course, and match the World Series won by the 1907 Cubs. Although their offense has been just fine, it’s been the pitching that’s brought the Diamondbacks’ season to the next level. The 82 runs they’ve allowed to this point in the year is the lowest total in the National League, and to make matters even more amazing they’ve done with with Robbie Ray posting an ERA over 5.00. Patrick Corbin is looking like a legitimate Cy Young candidate, and the back of their bullpen looks as sturdy as any in the game. The National League West could be close all year long, but the Diamondbacks have built themselves a solid lead to start off and it could be enough to hold through the rest of the summer.
- The Giants were demolished in the first game on Saturday’s doubleheader, but they got a 1-2-3 inning from Pablo Sandoval so who’s the real winner here? The Dodgers. The answer is the Dodgers.
- In an era with some of the best center field defense we’ve ever seen, this catch from Odubel Herrera is not one we can see many players make.
- Didi Gregorius seems to be the latest Yankee to jump to stardom. Could Aaron Hicks be next?
- In the Cardinals bullpen, Jordan Hicks and his 100 mph fastball are taking the world by storm, but should we pump the brakes on the hype machine?
- Earlier in the week Twinkie Town had some questions for the neon shirt guy at Yankee Stadium. He responded.
- Pretty much everything has gone wrong for the Red Sox this year, but they still had the excitement of Nick Senzel’s upcoming promotion. Well, the top prospect hurt his shoulder.
- It wasn’t all that long ago that the Dodgers/Giants rivalry was arguably the best in baseball. Now, it seems that the matchup has lost some luster.
- Lance McCullers is one of the most talented pitchers in baseball, but he’s been fighting through some inconsistency to start the year.
- Although Aaron Nola isn’t missing as many bats this year, he’s having great success by inducing consistently weak contact.
- The Royals are bad and clearly a rebuilding team, but does that mean there is no point at which they should consider a long-term deal for Mike Moustakas?
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