San Diego Padres and 3 other early season MLB surprises

The biggest surprises in MLB just one week into the truncated season

The first week of the MLB season is almost in the books, and we’ve seen the ups and downs of the pandemic era of baseball. Games have gone on without a hitch, while three teams (New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles) were put on a brief pause due to the league’s ineptitude in regards to the handling of the Miami Marlins initial COVID-19 outbreak. But, that’s a discussion for another article.

Instead, we’re going to focus on what happened on the field. Given we’e been without professional sports in North America since March, baseball fans are keeping a keen and watchful eye on all of MLB’s games. Since everyone is doing so, we’ve seen not just expected results, but downright surprising occurrences across the league.

Braves DFA Mike Foltynewicz

The Atlanta Braves were dealt a bad hand in summer camp. Not only did the team rescind their offer to Yasiel Puig after he tested positive for COVID-19, but free agent signing Cole Hamels is out for the foreseeable future due to left triceps tendinitis. With the rotation already in shambles, it’s hard to envision manager Brian Snitker parting ways with one of the arms in the starting rotation.

But on Monday, Snitker shocked the baseball world to its core by announcing that right handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz was designated for assignment. The decision came after Foltynewicz surrendered six runs in 3.1 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s obvious that Snitker and the Braves front office wasn’t too sold on Foltynewicz through spring and summer training, but given the lack of depth in the rotation, why now?

Yes, the Braves have no room for error given the 60 game slate, but they’re essentially gifting a veteran arm to the likes of the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox, both of whom are in desperate need for pitchers.  Foltynewicz had a rough 2019 season, but had you told us that he’d be DFA’ed after one start in 2020, we’d call you crazy.

Padres hold NL West lead over Dodgers

The San Diego Padres were the internet and media darlings entering the 2020 season. They have a stout roster on paper and have the potential to be a dark horse playoff team down the road. Usually, that comes back to haunt those individuals. Instead, the Padres rewarded them with a tremendous 4-1 start to the season.

San Diego took three of four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks and won the first game of their road series against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. Fernando Tatis Jr. is living up to the hype thus far, as he’s recorded a .333 batting average and 1.093 along with one home run, six hits and six RBI. Meanwhile Eric Hosmer, who was considered a free agency bust, is starting off strong, as he’s batting .500 with one homer and seven RBI.

As for pitching, Chris Paddack has a 0.00 ERA after allowing just four hits in six innings of work against the D-Backs. Dinelson Lamet struck out eight batters in five innings against Arizona.

More importantly, the Padres hold the divisional lead over the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers! The next test for San Diego is to see if they can stay atop the standings for the better part of the season. The Padres were expected to be a good team in 2020. We just didn’t think they’d be this good!

Nelson Cruz starting strong at 40-years-old

Age is only a number if your name happens to be Nelson Cruz, designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins.

It was no surprise that the Twins would assert themselves as the AL Central favorites this season, that was expected. They had their way with the Chicago White Sox in the weekend series, but Cruz definitely did the most damage. During their Sunday matinee, Cruz had four extra base hits (two of which were home runs) and seven RBI at the expense of the overwhelmed White Sox. As of this writing, Cruz has recorded three home runs and ten RBI (league-lead), along with a .412/.444/1.059 slash line.

MLB players at the age of 40 usually don’t get off to starts like this. Cruz is the anomaly, and quite frankly, it’s fun to watch.

Craig Kimbrel’s decline

Perhaps the worst thing to happen to closer Craig Kimbrel was his decision to sit out during the early goings of the 2019 season. He ultimately agreed to terms with the Chicago Cubs on a deal, and his stuff just wasn’t there. Certainly he’d improve in 2020, right? Wrong.

On Monday, the Cubs held an 8-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. Manager David Ross called upon Kimbrel to secure the victory, but he did nothing to help them. The previously-bearded Kimbrel’s scarecrow stance only pitched a third of the frame, where he surrendered two earned runs and walked four batters (one hit by pitch) on 34 pitches, 13 of which were strikes. After the game, Kimbrel currently holds a laughable 54.00 ERA.

If you watched the NL Central contest, you can see Kimbrel’s command just isn’t there. It’s quite obvious the formerly dominant closer for the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves is dealing with a decline in production. We simply didn’t see this coming.