The first two months of the MLB season have been filled with many dramatic moments and breakout stars and as the calendar shifts to June, there are a lot of storylines going on throughout the league.
Here are our five biggest takeaways from the first two months of the MLB season.
1) Early MVP Race: Seattle Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz and Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper have had standout starts to the campaign. The duo is tied for first in the MLB with 18 homers apiece and Harper slugged 13 in the month of May alone. Harper leads the MLB in on-base percentage (.469), slugging percentage (.724), OPS (1.193) and walks (44) while his 42 runs leads the National League and he ranks second in the NL in RBI (43, tied) and total bases (118). Cruz, meanwhile, leads the majors with 128 total bases and is third in the MLB in slugging (.660) and OPS (1.051) while he's second in the American League with 38 RBI and third in batting average (.335) and hits (65).
2) Great Eight: There are only two pitchers in the MLB with eight wins prior to June 1 this season and they are 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner and Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez and ageless wonder and New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon. Hernandez, 29, is 8-1 with a 1.91 ERA through 10 starts for the fourth place Mariners (24-26) while Colon, 42, is 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA through 11 starts for the second place Mets (28-23).
3) Surprise Teams: Perhaps there are no bigger surprises in baseball through the first two months of the season than the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins, who both enter June atop their respective divisions. After finishing 70-92 en route to their sixth straight losing season in 2014, the Astros are 31-20 and own a four-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels thus far. The Twins finished 70-92 for their fourth straight losing campaign a year ago and are 30-19 while owning a half-game lead over the reigning AL champion Kansas City Royals in the AL Central.
4) American League LEAST: One division that is definitely struggling heading into June is the American League East. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are each one game above .500 (26-25) and are tied atop the division standings. Following those two clubs are the third-place Baltimore Orioles (23-26), the Toronto Blue Jays (23-29) and the last place Boston Red Sox (22-29). Only four games separate the top team from the bottom in this division and despite losing six of their last seven and seven of 10 overall, the Red Sox are only four games out.
5) San Diego Slump: The Padres went through a major offseason overhaul and the wheels have fallen off after a decent start to the season. The Padres are 25-27 and may only be 5.5 games behind the Dodgers for the division lead, but they rank 18th in the National League in team batting average (.277) and 25th in team on-base percentage (.302). The club also allowed the slow-starting San Francisco Giants to leapfrog it for second place. San Diego still has time to turn things around, but it's also in danger of becoming yet another team that tries to solve its problems in one offseason only to falter the following campaign.
After two months of great action, the Major League Baseball season shifts into June with plenty of intrigue.
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