Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Each MLB contender has found unexpected strength driving their strong start to the season.
- From deep rotation arms to breakout stars, these surprises have stabilized shaky rosters and elevated solid teams.
- The next three months will test whether these emerging performances hold up as the postseason race heats up.
For the most part, the good teams have been good for reasons MLB fans expected. Aaron Judge is the driving force behind another strong New York Yankees start. Shohei Ohtani is still performing at an MVP-caliber level for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Those superstars haven't been winning games by themselves, though.
The Yankees, Dodgers, and every other contender have gotten at least one pleasant surprise in the first two months of the season. Let's dive into them.
Atlanta Braves
- Biggest surprise: Starting pitching depth
- Record: 40-20
To say the Atlanta Braves have bounced back would be an understatement, as they, despite some more rotten injury luck, have the best record in the majors. Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Schwellenbach and AJ Smith-Shawver have combined to throw zero innings and Spencer Strider has even missed some time, yet the Braves have the fifth-best rotation ERA. Their depth arms have a lot to do with that.
Pitcher | Starts | ERA |
|---|---|---|
Bryce Elder | 13 | 2.57 |
Grant Holmes | 11 | 3.95 |
Martin Perez | 8 (12 appearances) | 2.97 |
Bryce Elder has gotten most of the attention, but he's far from the only reliable arm at the back end of Atlanta's rotation. Grant Holmes, despite pitching with a partially torn UCL, has been rock-solid, and Martin Perez, a minor league signing, has been as good an under-the-radar move as any. Braves fans didn't have much faith in any of these starters entering the year, yet they've helped stabilize things.
Chicago White Sox
- Biggest surprise: Munetaka Murakami
- Record: 32-28
There was a lot of hype around Munetaka Murakami, a 25-year-old free agent from Japan with all kinds of power, yet he didn't wind up receiving much interest from the league. His market was so dry that he wound up settling on a two-year, $34 million deal with a Chicago White Sox team that was thought to be in the middle of a long rebuild. It's turned out to be one of the biggest steals of the winter.
Murakami has performed at an MVP level thus far, ranking third in the majors with 20 home runs and tied for fifth with 44 walks. He strikes out a lot and will never hit for a very high average, but Murakami hitting for as much power as anybody in the league while posting an OPS well over .900 is a result better than even the biggest optimists had.
Cleveland Guardians
- Biggest surprise: Lineup around Jose Ramirez
- Record: 34-27
For years, the Cleveland Guardians have been a team built around Jose Ramirez and good pitching. This season, it feels different. Ramirez hasn't been quite as good as usual, yet Cleveland remains atop the AL Central because, for the first time in what feels like years, the Guardians have a pretty good lineup around their star third baseman.
Chase DeLauter has had an impressive rookie year. Travis Bazzana looks to be their leadoff hitter of the present and future. Angel Martinez has broken out in his third season and leads the team in home runs thus far. Bryan Rocchio might make the AL All-Star team. Heck, even Kyle Manzardo is picking it up after a brutal start. As long as this continues, once Ramirez and Steven Kwan get going, the Guardians could be very tough to beat.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Biggest surprise: Andy Pages
- Record: 38-22
MLB fans felt that the Los Angeles Dodgers were breaking baseball when they signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal, and understandably so, but he has just four home runs and a .727 OPS thus far. That hasn't really mattered, though, because fellow outfielder Andy Pages is putting up Tucker-esque numbers.
Pages is slashing .293/.341/.538 with 13 home runs and a MLB-leading 50 RBI. He's tied for the NL lead with 2.7 fWAR. Pages had a good year in 2025, and he's taken his game to superstar heights in 2026. If you thought the Dodgers were unfair before, Pages' emergence only makes them scarier.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Biggest surprise: Rotation other than Brandon Sproat
- Record: 36-21
The Milwaukee Brewers traded Freddy Peralta and elected not to acquire a big-ticket replacement for his rotation spot, yet their rotation has been the driving force behind an electric start to their season. Literally every starter other than one of the players Peralta was traded for, Brandon Sproat, has excelled.
Player | Starts | ERA |
|---|---|---|
Jacob Misiorowski | 12 | 1.65 |
Kyle Harrison | 11 | 1.46 |
Chad Patrick | 6 (14 appearances) | 2.54 |
Brandon Woodruff | 6 | 3.60 |
Logan Henderson | 5 | 2.74 |
Injuries have derailed this rotation, as Brandon Woodruff has missed substantial time and Quinn Priester hasn't even pitched, yet this rotation is third in ERA. Jacob Misiorowski might be the NL Cy Young favorite, Kyle Harrison has been a revelation, and even inexperienced starters like Chad Patrick and Logan Henderson have impressed when they've been called upon.
We can question the Brewers' desire to win, considering their habit of trading stars for prospects in a competitive window, but we cannot question their ability to develop talent, particularly on the pitching front. Even without a staple in Peralta, this rotation hasn't missed a beat.
New York Yankees
- Biggest surprise: Sophomore emergences
- Record: 36-23
The New York Yankees are thought of as Aaron Judge's team, and rightfully so, but what if I told you he's been their third-best player thus far? That wouldn't be so outlandish, and it's thanks to a couple of players in their second seasons.
Ben Rice has technically seen time in parts of three big-league seasons, but this is his second full year in the majors, and he might be the AL MVP frontrunner. He's slashing .308/.401/.657 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI this season, ranking at or near the top in virtually every key offensive category. Schlittler has been arguably even more impressive, entering Tuesday's outing with a 1.50 ERA in 12 starts and 72 innings of work.
The Yankees expected big things from Rice and Schlittler, but who thought they'd be in the hunt for the MVP and Cy Young awards, respectively? Their rise to superstardom has helped the Yankees look like one of MLB's best teams thus far.
San Diego Padres
- Biggest surprise: Gavin Sheets
- Record: 32-26
The San Diego Padres are the most frustrating good team in the majors, as they currently hold sole possession of the first Wild Card spot in the NL, yet they're dead last in runs scored. With Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth all struggling mightily, Gavin Sheets has stepped up.
Sheets is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs and he leads the way with an .828 OPS. Are these MVP-caliber numbers? No, but Sheets entered the year with a career .698 OPS. He broke out with 19 home runs and a .746 OPS in 2025, but he's taken a massive leap this season. Without him, I'm not sure how the Padres would score any runs given how their expected stars have played.
Seattle Mariners
- Biggest surprise: Luke Raley
- Record: 32-29
The Seattle Mariners have a star-studded position player core featuring guys like Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor, Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena, yet Luke Raley is the player leading the charge for them. Raley's 13 home runs lead the team, as does his .920 OPS. In fact, his 159 wRC+ ranks seventh in the majors among the players with at least 160 plate appearances. He's been a better hitter, according to wRC+, than guys like Kyle Schwarber, Munetaka Murakami and Shohei Ohtani.
Raley had some solid seasons in the past, but he struggled mightily in 2025, leading Mariners fans to have little to no faith in him at the start of this season. Where would Seattle be without him? That's a question worth asking.
St. Louis Cardinals
- Biggest surprise: Jordan Walker
- Record: 31-27
The St. Louis Cardinals might be the most surprising team on this list of contenders, and Jordan Walker might be the most surprising player on this list. Cardinals fans were beyond fed up with him, a former top prospect who had shown little signs of life the past couple of years, but Walker, seemingly out of nowhere, has become a cornerstone piece for St. Louis.
Walker is slashing .284/.351/.541 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI. Walker has never hit more than 16 home runs in a single season, yet he's almost there just two months into this season. He's even chipped in with seven steals and improved defense in the outfield. It's been really cool to watch Walker realize his potential after years of waiting.
Tampa Bay Rays
- Biggest surprise: Nick Martinez
- Record: 36-21
Nick Martinez has been a valuable pitcher for several years now, both as a starting pitcher and as a reliever, but the league told us what it thought about him when the right-hander had to settle for a one-year, $13 million deal - incredibly cheap for a starting pitcher. As the Tampa Bay Rays seem to have a knack of doing, they've gotten the most out of a pitcher.
Martinez has a 1.62 ERA in 11 starts and 66.2 innings of work. Yes, the advanced metrics suggest he's gotten a bit lucky, but results are results. Martinez is second in the majors, ahead of phenoms like Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler and Chase Burns, in ERA. That is insane, and has played an instrumental role in the Rays being as good as they've been.
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