1. Philadelphia Phillies (26-19)
- Biggest Surprise
Anyone who follows baseball knows how potent the Philadelphia Phillies' lineup is. With names like Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley, Philly sure can put some crooked numbers on the board. A name that often gets lost in the shuffle, however, is Jayson Werth. Werth blew away his previous career highs last season when he hit 36 HRs and 99 RBI. Now coming into a contract year most were wondering if Werth could replicate his stats from a year ago. So far his chances look good as Werth is hitting .319 with 9 HRs and 33 RBI.- Biggest Disappointment
Since his first full season in 2001, Jimmy Rollins has only played in less than 154 games once, including 2007 when Rollins played in all 162. This season is a bit different. Rollins has already missed 33 games which means if he played in every game from this point forward, Rollins would still set a new career low in games played by 8 games.2. Atlanta Braves (24-22)
- Biggest Surprise
Unless you've been living in a cave this spring, or Montreal because those people obviously don't care about baseball, you've heard of Jason Heyward. Heyward, in his rookie season, is reviving the Braves' organization and giving Bobby Cox a reason to rethink retiring in the fall. It's been a storybook season for the 20 year old Atlanta native beginning with his superb Spring Training where he won a starting spot to a 3 run HR in his first ever at-bat at home on Opening Day to hitting .290 while leading the team with 9 HRs and 35 RBI.- Biggest Disappointment
Jair Jurrjens has missed almost the entire month of May while being on the DL with a strained left hamstring. Unlike Jimmy Rollins though, Jurrjens wasn't living up to expectations even before his current DL stint. Jurrjens had a terrific '09 that saw him finish 14-10 with a sparkling 2.60 ERA. 2010 has seen Jurrjens start 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA. Also disappointing Braves' fans has been Melky Cabrera, Chipper Jones, and Nate McLouth with their .228, .219, and .190 batting averages.3. Florida Marlins (24-23)
- Biggest Surprise
Gaby Sanchez has already set career highs in almost every offensive category this season for the Florida Marlins. It wasn't too difficult considering Sanchez only had 29 career at-bats coming into this season. Sanchez is hitting .276 with 4 HRs and 21 RBI. The Marlins are hoping the 27 year old, rookie Sanchez can provide some long term stability at a position that has been a revolving door the better part of a decade.- Biggest Disappointment
Chris Coghlan hit .321 in '09 while on his way to claiming the NL Rookie of the Year Award. In order to match that output this season Coghlan is going to have to get hot in a hurry. In April Coghlan hit .195, but "improved" in May to hit .229. If the Marlins are going to compete in a competitive NL East, they're going to need Coghlan to turn it around rather quickly.4. New York Mets (24-23)
- Biggest Surprise
After missing half of last season due to injuries, Carlos Beltran looks like he won't be 100% healthy until after the All-Star break. Ordinarily losing a player with the talent level of Beltran is a huge loss for your ball club, but when you have Angel Pagan playing as well as he has been, both offensively and defensively, it's easy to not sweat it. In the past week, Pagan has hit two inside the park home runs and added an assist on a triple play to boot. Throughout the entire season, Pagan is hitting .291 providing perhaps the most consistent bat in the Mets line-up. Extra kudos to Mike Pelfrey as well. Pelfrey is 6-1 and maintaining a sub 3 ERA.- Biggest Disappointment
In '09 Jose Reyes had an alibi for his poor numbers in the fact that he was injured for most of the season and only played in 36 games. This season Reyes has already topped that number, with 43 games played, but his other numbers are quite sad. Reyes is hitting an abysmal .238 and his .279 on-base percentage is only six points higher than his career low .273 batting average. Reyes' .604 OPS is also among the league lows.5. Washington Nationals (24-24)
- Biggest Surprise
Take your pick. Christian Guzman was moved to 2B in Spring Training to make room for rookie SS Ian Desmond. Message received. Guzman is hitting a team leading .327. Then there's the elderly Pudge Rodriguez who is hitting .325. Or even Josh Willingham who just needed a change of scenery from dull, dreary South Beach, and he's responded by hitting 9 HRs and 31 RBI. Or closer Matt Capps who is 16 of 17 in save oppotunities. My personal choice is Livan Hernandez. The veteran right hander, who has mostly been used as an innings eater in recent years, is 4-3 with an astounding 2.08 ERA. His previous career low ERA was 3.18 in his rookie season waaaaay back in '97 with Florida.- Biggest Disappointment
I don't think it gets more disappointing than Jason Marquis this season. Marquis was only able to make 3 starts before heading to the DL with inflammation in his pitching elbow caused by floating bone chips which will keep him out for about another 2 months. However, in those 3 starts Marquis went 0-3 with a preposterous 20.52 ERA. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for Nationals fans came late in Spring Training when manager Jim Riggleman announced Stephen Strasburg would not be on the opening day roster. Trust me though Nats fans, good things come to those who wait. And you only have until June 8th to wait.
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