It's our first look at 2011, and the big story in SLB is Felix Hernandez. After signing the richest deal this off season (moving from Caracas to Brisbane), the young fireballer has absolutely dominated in his first 4 starts, not allowing an earned run so far this season. Check out this stat line:
3-0, 0.00 ERA, 28 1/3 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 18 K, .087 OpAvg, .109 OpSLG
For those of you playing at home, that's a WHIP of 0.46!!!!!!!!
Now, for the rest of the league...
EAST
- The race heats up right away, with three teams within a game of first place. Atlanta stakes their claim to the top early (despite a miserable 5.31 team ERA), thanks to a league leading 35 HR.
- Columbus is right back at their underachieving ways, wasting brilliant starting pitching with a hot/cold offense and spotty bullpen. 2010 Cy Young winner Brandon Webb is winless with a 5.18 ERA to start the year.
- Miami is off to a better start this year, going 10-9 over the first 3 weeks. Starting pitching has been key so far, as the offense has been slow to get going.
- After a terrible start, New York is back to within 2 games of .500. Newcomers Chone Figgins and Nelson Cruz have sparked an otherwise anemic offense, as Albert Pujols' spring training numbers haven't carried over into the regular season (how does this guy not have a HR yet?)
- Jersey City sits in last, partially due to the financial inability to improve this off season. The bullpen has been really rough, and outside of Magglio Ordonez and Josh Hamilton, there hasn't been much to report from the offense.
WEST
- This division is pretty mediocre top to bottom, but LaBrea has shown something in 2011 that they didn't in 2010: the ability to hit. The Dire Wolves are 3rd in the league in batting. Josh Towers has been brilliant, and the pen is among the best in the league so far.
- Springfield comes in at 9-8, but who knows how! The offense is woeful (outside of Kyle Blanks), which is why Tim Lincecum is 0-3 despite a 1.67 ERA. Looks like the Isotopes have pulled out some close games late.
- Kansas added some thump to an already potent offense this winter, but are near the bottom of the league in runs scored. Add in the fact that outside of Adam Wainwright, the starting pitching (including top draft pick Stephen Strasburg) has been terrible, and you can see why they're just 8-9.
- The Bison hitting is the worst in the league at just .217. Ouch. It doesn't matter how good pitchers like Ted Lilly are, you aren't going to win with that kind of offense.
- Sioux Falls is still bad. There are some good hitters, but when three of your starters are winless (Price, Garza and Gallardo are 0-7 combined), you're going to have problems. Rookie Yu Darvish is off to a good (but not great) start.
WORLD
- Fremantle has the best record in the league, thanks to a 3.87 team ERA. Even though Tug Hullett is the only .300 hitter, there has been nice contributions up and down the lineup.
- Brisbane has the 2nd best record in the league, but is 1.5 back of Fremantle. While Felix Hernandez has been the story, Aaron Laffey (1.73 ERA) and Clayton Kershaw (1.80 ERA) have been nearly as impressive.
- Quebec is tied (by % points) for 2nd place, but would lead the other two division with their 12-8 mark. Despite some early injury issues, the team has scored over 20 more runs than the closest competitor. Roy Oswalt and Kevin Slowey have dominated.
- Caracas has been victimized by a league worst bullpen so far, and has no signs of fixing the problem. Money was (wisely) spent on starting pitching this winter, and so far it has paid off, as Verlander and Westbrook have been big improvements.
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