American League East Makes History in Month of April
Coming into the season, we knew the American League East would be a really good division. Any expert or prognosticator could have told you that. Heck, we told you that in our American League East video preview on Fastball.
That said, it's proving to be even deeper than people thought it would be.
All five teams in the division posted a winning record in the month of April and the divisions cumulative .623 winning percentage is the highest of any division in any single month since all the divisions had five teams in them.
According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, when you include four-team divisions, this years AL East has the third-highest in history behind the 2001 AL West (July) and 2002 AL West (August). The AL West didn't get five teams until the Astros joined in 2013.
Looking at the current American League East standings:
1) Tampa Bay Rays, 23-6
2) Baltimore Orioles, (19-9), 3.5 GB
3) Toronto Blue Jays (18-10), 4.5 GB
4) Boston Red Sox (15-14), 8 GB
5) New York Yankees (15-14) 8 GB
All of these teams are good, but all do have questions that lead you to wonder if they can keep these paces up.
For Tampa, you worry about the injuries in the starting rotation. The team has been without Tyler Glasnow all season and is now down Jeffrey Springs all season after it was revealed he would need Tommy John Surgery.
With the Orioles, you wonder if their rotation can hold together enough to contend. Youngster Grayson Rodriguez is in his first major league season, will there be innings limits imposed on him? Will he tire out? Dean Kremer has an ERA of 6.67 and Kyle Gibson is 35 years old, can he keep pitching to a 3.93 ERA, which is better than his career 4.50?
As for the Blue Jays, they have to fix their starting rotation as well. Jose Berrios, signed to a long-term extension before the 2022 season, has a 4.75 ERA and Chris Bassitt, signed this offseason, has a 5.18 ERA. When will the offseason addition of Brandon Belt (.169 average) pay off?
With the Red Sox, the starting rotation's health and durability remains its biggest question and concern. Garrett Whitlock is already on the injured list with ulnar neuritis and James Paxton, Corey Kluber and Chris Sale all come with their own complicated injury histories. The team also has seen injuries to key pieces like starting centerfielder Adam Duvall and starting shortstop Yu Chang.
Finally, with the Yankees, it too is about health. We haven't seen free agent prize Carlos Rodon yet this year. Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton are out for lengthy injury list stays and Aaron Judge has undergone an MRI on his ailing hip.
Concerns aside, this division still figures to be potentially the best in the sport by years end. Not all five teams will post winning records each month, but this division certainly is good.
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