Week one of the 2013 Major League Baseball season is now in the books and, as fun as it’s been, there is even more to look forward to during the second week of the season.
The Upton Brothers – What will they do for an encore? One should have suspected big things from the Atlanta Braves’ new brotherly stars, but BJ and Justin Upton took only six games to do something no one else has ever done when they became the first siblings to hit a game-tying then game-winning home run in the same inning. So far, Justin has hit .318 and has an NL-leading five home runs. BJ hasn’t fared so well, hitting just .150. A matchup in their next series against the Miami Marlins and their 4.39 team ERA might only help out both Uptons.
Chicago Cubs Closer – It didn’t take long for the Cubs to find out they have a closer problem. After just three appearances, Carlos Marmol has lost his job as the anchor of the bullpen. On Monday, he gave up one run in 0.1 innings, on Thursday he gave up two more runs in an inning while picking up his first save, and, on Saturday, he notched a blown save and a loss when he gave up both of the Upton brothers’ home runs. In 1.2 innings, he has an ERA of 27.00. Marmol also lost the closer’s role in similar fashion last April, but reclaimed it later in the season. Kyuji Fujikawa will take over the role and could face his first appearances as Cubs’ closer this week against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants.
Clayton Kershaw – The Los Angeles Dodgers ace is off to an incredible start this season as he continues to show why he is in the elite class of MLB pitchers. Kershaw is 2-0 in his two starts this year, including a 4-0 complete game effort over the Giants. He added a second win over the weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates. At this point, he has a ridiculous 16-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has thrown 16 shutout innings this year. Dating back to last season, he has a scoreless innings streak of 20 innings, which is two shy of his career high. He will look to continue his streak on Friday when he is scheduled to start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have scored 29 runs this year, the 4th-most in the NL.
AL East – The first week in the American League East has been an eventful one. The Boston Red Sox have staked their claim early atop the division was a 4-2 record, leading the AL with a +17 run differential. The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees, meanwhile, are in the cellar at 2-4. This week will present a few divisional matchups with the Red Sox hosting both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays, while the Yankees will host the Orioles in a weekend series. There will likely be many fluctuations in the AL East standings throughout the year, but it never hurts to get out to a great start. This week will give a few of those teams the chance to put some distance between them and their competition.
Home Openers – While Opening Day provides most of the pomp and circumstance of the start of the baseball season, a handful of teams spend their first week on the road before kicking off their home schedule. On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Red Sox, Cubs, and Marlins, play their first games in their home ballparks. The following day, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels become the final teams to play home games this season.
