A Third A Year Of Surprises

It seemed like just a matter of days ago that our hearts were being played with as Spring Training was coming to an end and we were all counting down the seconsds util the season would begin.

Well, within a blink of an eye, it is now already a third of a way through the regular season. A strange season with quite a few giant surprises.

With these surprises, I labeled what I feel have been the top 10 surprises hus far this year.

1. First off, you can't go far without mentioning the absolute domination of the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays. Two young teams with little to no expectations are two of the top temas in baseball. The Rays have a .614 winning percentage, which is best in the AL and secnd best in the majors just behind the Cubs who have a .632 winning percentage. The Rays also have n unbelievable 24-10 at home. The Marlins were holding onto first place for the majority of the first third of the year, and are just a half game out of first as it stands now, behind the Phillies.

2. No one is probably more surprising as the Indians lefty Cliff Lee who has posted an ERA of 1.88 with a record of 8-1, despite having a career 4.39 ERA. C.C. Sabathia is supposed to be the ace of the staff, however, in his free agent year, he has gone 3-7 with a nearing five ERA.

3. Not far behind Lee are both Ervin Santana of the Angels and the D-Backs Brandon Webb. Santana already has as many wins as he had all of last year; seven. Last season Satana went 7-14 with a 5.76 ERA, but is turning in a career year with a 7-2 record with an ERA just over three. Webb on the other hand won his first nine starts of the season and currently has a 10-2 record 2.69 ERA.

4. Speaking of the Diamondbacks, I as well as many others felt Randy Johnson was all washed up. After coming off of back surgery and a career of back problems, not to mention he is in his upper 40's did not think he would even come back. Well, not only has he ome back, but has posted a 4-1 record with a 3.83 ERA inching closer to his 300th win, now at 288 for his career and may be the last 300 game winner if he can stay healthy.

5. Much bigger tahn Randy Johnson however are tow big success stories. One story is Johnson's teammate, Doug Davis. Davis is 2-2 with a 4.57 ERA so far this season. However, his story is that early this season he was giagnosed with thyroid cancer and is alreadt back ptiching on the mound. The other success story is the Red Sox youngster, Jon Lester. No, he is not a success story becasue of his record either, goign 3-3 with a 3.67 ERA or even that he threw a no hitter against the Royals May 19th at Fenway Park, but just the fact that he is pitchig back in the majors after his life was in jeporday after beong diagnosed with cancer last season.

6. Speaking of youngsters, the surprise for the Ynakees was that neither Ian Kennedy nor Phil Hughes has done anyhting for the team, both actually on the DL at the moment. These two kids were supposed to be big parts of the Yankes rotatio, instead, they are sitting on the sidelines. The Reds hwoever have not had the same problem. The Reds have Edinson Volquez who has 83 K's in 68 innings, with a 7-2 record and a mere 1.46 ERA. The Reds also have Johnny Cueto, who while has ad some ups and downs as far as his ERA is ocncerned has shown some filthy stuff striking out 62 in under 70 innings pitched himself. Not to mention, they also have Jay Bruce who came out of no where. Bruce only has 22 at bats, but has a .591 atting average, two homers, six RBI's and a pair of stolen bases, including a walf off dinger.

7. Jay Bruce is not the only player who came out of no where however. Josh Hamilton for the Rangers did a noce job for the Reds last season, in 298 AB's, had 19 homers, 47 RBI's, a .292 AVG, and a 368 OBP. Well, this year, Hamilton has really taken off. Hamlton this season, has 15 hommers, 63 RBI's, a .3228 AVG and an very impresive OBP of .370.

8. Well, what list would be complete without a Yankees and Mets comparison. The Yankees have a .500 winning percentage which is just keeping them out of the cellar of the AL East. The Mets, despite acquiring arguably the best pitcher in the game today, in Johan Santana, are just a game over .500 themselves, tied for next to last place with Atlanta.

9. Now, we are down to the two bigest surprises. The biggest team surprise has to be the Detroit Tigers who were supposed ot have the most potent offense in baseball allon with a great opitching staff. They dealt for youngsters Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Willis spent a good portion of the first third of the season on the DL and the rest of the season pitching ineffectively. Cabrera is batting a descent .279 with eight homers and 33 RBI's. If he keeps on pace, he will have the lowest batting average, homers and RBI's over the past four seasons. In the previous three seasons, Cabrera has had an AVG of .323 with 33 homers and 116 RBI's in 2005, an AVG of .339 with 26 homers and 114 RBI's in 2006 and an AVG of .320 with 34 homers and 119 RBI's last season.

10. The biggest surprise thus far this season has to be the battle betwwen Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones. Each man has the potential for a triple crown as well as a .400 season, average wise. Berkman has a .385 average with 17 dingers and 47 batted in, even stealing 10 bases. Jones on the other hand is batting .405 with 12 bombs and 35 batted in.