STANDOUTS & SLUMPERS ONE MONTH INTO THE MLB SEASON

MLB / Baseball

Written by Gus Cousins

With a shortened edition of Spring Training, there were bound to be a number of surprises to begin the season - both good and bad. Pitching limitations were to be expected in an effort to preserve arms, with some big-name arms having a little bit more trouble than usual settling into their first few starts. Insert Gerrit Cole, for example.

But with the calendar turning to May and players having had a full month to acclimate themselves, we’re well past the point of a flukey start. Legitimate concerns are beginning to take shape, and under-the-radar acquisitions are flourishing. Here are three standouts and slumpers whose Aprils were…interesting:

Eric Lauer | Source (Background photo): Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Gausman - STANDOUT:

After signing a five-year, 110 million dollar deal with the Blue Jays, there were some concerns that Gausman - an ex-Oriole who struggled during much of his time with Baltimore from 2013-to 2018 - may not be as good in the AL East as he was with the Giants in the NL West. It’s safe to say that he’s put those worries to rest, as the righty splitterballer has opened the season with five fantastic starts against Texas, New York, Boston (x2), and Houston. To make Toronto fans feel even better about themselves, ex-Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, now with Seattle, has had an up-and-down start to his Mariners’ career - walking twelve over his first five starts, striking out twenty-six, and allowing fourteen runs over thirty-and-a-third innings. In comparison, Gausman has no walks, eight runs, and forty-one strikeouts over thirty-one-and-two-thirds innings. There is no reason to believe Gausman will falter anytime soon and is a way-too-early Cy Young candidate.

Marcus Semien - SLUMPER:

I hesitate to make too many assumptions about Semien given his notoriously slow starts, but saying that his first month in a Ranger uniform was a failure is an understatement. In 21 April games, the ex-Toronto slugger amounted to a .157 average, with just 13 hits and 18 k’s. Only twice in his first month did he have multi-hit games. This comes after he had a career year with the Blue Jays in 2021, amassing 45 homers with 102 RBIs and a .265/.334/.538 slash line. His first month is absolutely no reason to give up hope on the 2021 MVP candidate, but his seven-year, 175 million dollar deal that brought him to Texas hasn’t shown any life of panning out just yet. Semien will get there eventually, but Ranger fans are rightfully disappointed with his lackluster start.

Eric Lauer - STANDOUT:

Amidst the seemingly endless supply of really-good pitchers that Milwaukee continues to churn out, Lauer might be the least recognizable. A career back-end starter until 2021, Lauer has really turned it on over the last season-plus - his most recent spree of dominance being a 13-strikeout Sunday Night Baseball performance and an 11-strikeout, 7 inning start in his subsequent outing against Chicago. Not once in ‘21 did Lauer ever reach double-digit strikeouts, a feat he’s now done twice in his first four starts. The lefty has dominated with a notable increase in velocity and higher spin on his pitches, a presumed cause for his success. Originally a seventeenth-round draft pick by the Blue Jays in 2013, he opted not to sign and was heavily rewarded three years later when San Diego selected him 25th overall in 2016. He’s allowed just five earned runs over twenty-three-and-a-third innings, boasting the best numbers of any Brewer rotation man thus far with the exception of Corbin Burnes.

Adalberto Mondesi - SLUMPER:

Plagued with inconsistency, Mondesi has been a polarizing figure for GM Dayton Moore and the Kansas faithful for many years. After an unsuccessful April, recent news broke that Mondesi will be out for the year - and likely much of next - with a torn ACL. That may, unfortunately, be the last straw in Mondesi’s stint with the Royals, as he hit a measly .140 with only seven hits throughout 2022’s first month. 2018-19 may end up being his two best “seasons” with the Royals, as he batted .268 with 23 HRs and 99 RBIs over a combined 177 games. Always being seen as a glove-first, super speedy infielder, the hitting has evidently never evolved enough to justify the extended viewing of his presence at shortstop. As Kansas City continues to build for the future, slightly better-than-Mondesi IF Nicky Lopez will likely receive more playing time, as well as possible future-superstar Bobby Witt Jr.

C.J. Cron - STANDOUT:

Off to a surprisingly solid 13-9 start in a stacked NL West, the Rockies have a slew of underappreciated players in 2022 - namely, C.J. Cron. Unlike some of the aforementioned names, Cron has always been relatively solid throughout his big-league career. Playing in Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, and now Colorado, Cron has always been known as a heavy-hitting First Baseman/DH who can smash the ball a mile. Heck, in 142 games with the Rox last season, Cron smacked 28 HRs with 92 RBIs while hitting a very solid .281 - and he’s on pace to surpass that so far this year. In April the Rockies’ star hit 8 bombs with 21 RBIs, cementing himself once again as an extremely stereotypically-Colorado 1B. In his nine-year MLB career, only once has he not hit double-digit homers - a pandemic-plagued 2020 season in which he played only thirteen games for a struggling Tigers team. The now-32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down, and may well be on his way to one of his best seasons yet.

Eddie Rosario - SLUMPER:

After a fantastic postseason performance last year, Rosario earned himself a two-year, 18 million dollar deal with Atlanta - a deal that has started off just as poor as possible. Through one month, he’s hit just .068 (that’s 3 hits in 49 plate appearances). Recently he was placed on the IL and is expected to miss 2-to-3 months after undergoing a laser eye procedure. Nobody ever wants to see any player hurt, especially for a longer-term recovery such as this, but his sub-par play was about to earn him a spot on the pine regardless of being IL’d. Barring an intense turnaround in play when he returns in August/September, it will be hard to justify him filling a roster spot amidst fellow outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr., Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall, and Travis Demeritte, and prospects Drew Waters and Michael Harris. Rosario has always produced high strikeout numbers - mainly during his six years with the Twins, but his incredible playoff performances - mixed with recency bias - have continued to boost his offensive reputation.