American League

The Good:

The Boston Red Sox are off to a 5-2 start after gambling on Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. They put their trust in Rick Porcello to run the staff and it appears Dustin Pedroia is healthy.

The Kansas City Royals had many doubters to begin the season but they are off to a hot 7-0 start and the last undefeated team in the MLB. They have a +34 run differential and they are out to prove last year wasn’t a fluke.

The Detroit Tigers are 6-1 and have enjoyed watching Miguel Cabrera hit .517. The club is the favorite to win the division but has work to do with Kansas City off to a hot start. They have a +30 run differential and have been pleasantly surprised by Anthony Gose

• Seattle is enjoying the Nelson Cruz signing, he has four home runs at this point.
• J.D. Martinez is off to a hot start with 9 RBIs, the Astros should be wondering why they just let him go.
• Despite all his offseason struggles and the constant media attention, Alex Rodriguez is off to a fantastic start for the Yankees.

The Bad:

• The Twins are 1-6, and it isn’t going to get better anytime soon.
• Masahiro Tanaka is expecting his velocity to be down, which is bad for the Yankees and how much they gave up to get him.
• People still aren’t coming out to watch the A’s or the Rays.
• Despite their winning ways, Kansas City has had poor attendance.

National League

The Good:

After trading away most of the starting lineup and watching much of their rotation walk to free agency, the Braves are 6-1 to begin the year. While it isn’t likely to last, it gives the Braves fans something to cheer about and hope that ‘just maybe’ can happen.

The Chicago Cubs are the NL Central Division leaders with a 4-2 record. The division should be a tight race throughout the season.

The Rockies are off to a nice 5-2 start to the season.

• San Diego ranks 11th in attendance, their fan base is excited.
• Adrian Gonzalez has 5 home runs and is hitting .556
• Bartolo Colon has two wins, he seems ageless.
• The Cardinals rank 4th in pitching. After an offseason of doubts for the rotation, it is a good beginning for the club.

The Bad:

• The Marlins are off to a 1-6 start after much hype over the offseason. Mat Latos looks like a disaster of a trade. The attendance is a horrible issue as well. This time, the fans are not buying it.
• The Brewers have a -19 run differential to begin the season. While they are 2-5 and Jimmy Nelson has looked good they have many issues.
• The Giants have been dealing with a handful of injuries, they are 3-5 to begin to the year. If they can survive the early injuries, they may have a shot. But, it doesn’t look good, especially for a staff that is thin.

Cardinals Overview

The club is 3-3 to begin the season with a +4 run differential. The club has to be pleased with the effort from their pitching staff. Through those six games the team has posted a 2.50 ERA with 5 quality starts in 6 attempts. They have struck out 55 batters, only walking 17 in the process. Teams are hitting just .189 against the club. They have yielded just 18 runs, second lowest in the National League.

The offense ranks 23rd in the MLB. The team has only produced 22 runs, only four teams in the National League have fewer. The team is hitting .241, which actually ranks 11th in the MLB.  The club has hit four home runs and 11 doubles. The team has 51 hits which ranks with the Brewers. The team’s slugging percentage ranks at 23rd in the league overall.

It is the first week of the season, the team has a long way to go. After an offseason full of question marks about the health of the rotation the stellar start can cause a breath of relief for those watching.  If the Cardinal offense can improve, the Birds could be dangerous.

Good Signs:

• Peralta has been showing his worth, hitting .360 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs.
• Matt Holliday is still finding ways to get on base, his OBP is .448
• Carlos Martinez looked great.
• Lance Lynn continues to be one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball

Bad Signs:

• Matt Adams and Yadier Molina are off to very slow starts. They have a combined 11 strikeouts.
• Jason Heyward needs to get on base more.
• Randy Choate cannot be trusted to face one batter it seems.

Just remember, there is a lot of baseball to be played.