What We’ve Learned So Far in the 2017 MLB Season

It’s still pretty early to get a good pulse of how the season will end up. It is after all, only May. As of right now, here’s a few things we’ve seen so far:

1) Washington appears to be the best team in the National League

Offensively, the Nationals are the league leader in nearly every category. Ryan Zimmerman is looking like the League MVP and the rest of the team is no slouch. Bryce Harper looks like his old self and could also be an MVP candidate.

Pitching hasn’t been great, but the Nationals do what they need to do to win games. There’s every reason to believe Washington has a real chance to represent the NL in the World Series.

2) The Giants are in trouble

San Francisco is having more difficulty than any other team right now with finding ways to win not only games, but series’.

They lost the one player they couldn’t afford to lose, Madison Bumgarner, to a motorcycle injury of all things. They are hitting near the bottom and they have blown leads.

It’s still early, but this looks like a year the Giants take a year off from contending for a playoff spot.

3) The Rockies are for real

The Rockies were my surprise pick to make noise this year, but they have exceeded the expectations of anyone who had them listed as an improved team.

The lineup has been real good as expected, but the addition of Greg Holland in the bullpen has made a ton of difference. Holland has a league-leading 13 saves in 14 games finished.

4) Eric Thames is probably the surprise of the season

After spending the last few years in Korea, Thames is lighting the league on fire this season. The Brewers lead the league in homeruns and Thames is in the middle of it with 12. He’s near the top of the league in On-Base %, Slugging %, OPS, and total bases.

Thames is leading the Brewers to an improved season thus far and with the way the NL Central is playing, who knows what will happen.

5) The Yankees and Astros could be the AL Championship Series

The Yankees and Astros are also playing great baseball. Aaron Judge is lighting it up for the Pinstripers and Dallas Keuchel is leading what is likely the best pitching squad in baseball for Houston.

The Yankees have the Red Sox and Baltimore to contend with, so it’s hard to tell at this point how far they can go, but the Astros don’t have as hard of a division out West.