We're a little under two weeks into the MLB season, and there have already been quite a few surprises, from a still-undefeated team to a powerhouse struggling to get going. What has grabbed our attention enough to become must-see TV? Even if you've already settled into your routine with your go-to teams and players, get ready to expand your horizons.
We asked MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield to give us the rundown on who has our full attention whenever they take the field and what makes them worth your time.
The teams we can't get enough of right now
Tampa Bay Rays
Passan: Yes, the Rays' 9-0 start came against the dregs of MLB in Detroit, Washington and Oakland — teams Tampa Bay should beat. And yet it's impossible to ignore just how thoroughly the Rays thumped them. They are the first team since 1884 with a run differential of more than 50 over their first nine games of the season. They've scored the most runs (75) in baseball and allowed the fewest (18). Their 21 home runs lead the big leagues, and they have the fewest strikeouts with 51. They have generated more ground balls and walked fewer hitters than any team in the American League.
The Rays play an eminently enjoyable brand of baseball. They are simultaneously clean and powerful, exciting and efficient. They are loaded with ballplayers' ballplayers. And with Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Zach Eflin and, soon enough, Tyler Glasnow, they will be just fine pitching their way through a schedule that goes full nightmare — Yankees, Orioles, Yankees, Mets, Brewers, Blue Jays, Dodgers — starting May 5.
Milwaukee Brewers
Doolittle: There's something special brewing in Milwaukee, and I'll leave it up to you to decide whether the pun was intended. The Brewers are underappreciated for their consistent winning in recent years, even if they missed the postseason last season. This year's team is fun. You have great resurgence stories (Brian Anderson, Jesse Winker) and a trio of rookies in Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer and Brice Turang, all friends who have infused the team with energy, ability, enthusiasm and cheesehead-related celebration. And they are just the vanguard, because wait until Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio join the party. This is a really good team that has a chance to be the best yet in the Brewers' run of winning. And the emergent personality of this revitalized roster is one of pure joy.
Atlanta Braves
Schoenfield: Baseball fans like offense, and the Braves are my bet to lead the majors in runs scored — and they'll do it with a dynamic core of young and in-their-prime players. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Michael Harris II have a reasonable shot of becoming just the third pair of 30-30 teammates in MLB history (joining Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry of the 1987 Mets and Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks of the 1996 Rockies). Austin Riley is coming off back-to-back top-10 MVP finishes. Matt Olson is up there like he's ready to stop chopping wood, with his hands high and outstretched from his body, daring pitchers to go inside on him. Ozzie Albies is a slugger in a No. 9 hitter's body. Travis d'Arnaud and Sean Murphy add depth.
That's just the lineup. Every fifth game you get one of the most electric starters in the game in Spencer Strider, coming off a rookie season in which he averaged an absurd 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting — behind his teammate Harris. The Braves might have another pop-up ROY candidate in lefty Dylan Dodd, who pounds the strike zone. And when he returns soon from the injured list, they have a Cy Young contender in the coolly efficient Max Fried. The Braves are good — and nothing is more fun than winning.