Then I guess we had to crash / Valium would’ve helped that bash, to paraphrase a nasally voice from the distant future. A strong Spring Training gives no warning of our horrendous start to the season as we lose our first four games before finally getting on the board with a spot of daylight robbery in St. Louis. We steady a bit to be 4-6 after 10 and 4-7 in April.
Good to put that in the rear-vision mirror.
Hot- SS Honus Wagner, as you’d expect. Hitting .455 with 9 RBI. 201 OPS+. .541 wOBA. On pace for 10 WAR.
- C Ossee Schreckengost, who you might not. Second to Wagner in almost every category. 0.5 WAR. Batting .378.
Not- Pretty much any player who has trod the mound wearing a Bucs uniform, although Phillippe’s last two starts were OK.
- 2B Jimmy Williams. While he leads the team in ribbies with 10 (tied with Steinfeldt), his .261 BA is unders and he’s actually WAR neg to this point. We need better from our cleanup guy.
Around the Leagues- The AL schedule starts a week after the NL, but from the off the A’s show they are the side to beat with a 6-0 start that sees them simply tearing teams apart – plus 28 run diff – as Lajoie and co run amok. Detroit’s Wid Conroy also has a hot early hand.
- In the NL, Cincy cools off a bit after their torrid start to share the lead with the Beaneaters and Giants. Just 3 games separate first and last. Were the award given for this shortened opening month, there’s no doubt Boston’s Ed Delahanty would win the Batter of the Month Award for his .558 / .642 / .721 performance. He also has 1.0 WAR already, along with an OPS+ of 232 and a .604 wOBA. Hitters are in the ascendancy, with pitchers across the board being shelled to within an inch of their life.
Awards- 04/29 POTW: AL – Mike Donlin (Baltimore) .684 / 2 HR / 6 RBI; NL – Harry Wolverton (St. Louis) .560 / 5 RBI.