MLB

Now that the season is over a month old, there are some judgments that can be made. Although it's too early to know for sure what will hold out and what won't, there are some general trends:

• Whatever the team's problem, it's not the offense.
• The starting pitching can show flashes of brilliance, but has mostly been pretty average.
• The bullpen has two reliable pitchers and the rest are firestarters.

Let's take a more in-depth look, shall we?

This season has not been a pretty one for the Washington Nationals.

Losers of 10 of their first 11 games, they currently hold the worst record in either league. Last month, on consecutive days, they held leads against the Florida Marlins, only to see the Marlins tie the game on home runs and then win in extra innings.

Luck would not seem to be on their side.

While Nationals fans are no doubt frustrated with their team's misfortunes, they can feel honored to have one of baseball's young budding superstars: Ryan Zimmerman.

Exactly a month ago, I wrote an article telling you to pick up a few sleepers, one for each position.

I'm nothing if not accountable (unless you ask my wife), so today I'm going to recount the guys I told you to get, and update their progress through the first month of the season.

Keep in mind that these are not the guys I said you should draft, but the guys who should be productive and widely available in case of injury to one of your studs.

Catcher: John Baker, Florida Marlins

Let me start the typical “shock value” article the typical way, I love Ken Griffey, Jr.  When I was a kid, I measured how tall I was getting on a Ken Griffey Jr. height chart, before running out to play with my black outfielders glove with his golden signature in my palm.  

Now, unfortunately, I have outgrown Griffey, and the glove that I retired so many years ago is getting just as much work as Juniors glove does now. 

Adrian Beltre has been a source of contention among Mariners fans since signing a contract with the team before the 2005 season.

Fans were warned that Beltre, who’d hit 48 home runs in 2004, and finished second-place in MVP voting in the National League had never duplicated those numbers in his career. Following an unprecedented season is an uncomfortable time to sign a player.

The Seattle Mariners are currently in third place in the AL west (1.5 GB) and have a 16-16 record.

New general manager Jack Zduriencik said this offseason that the Mariners front office wants to acquire players than can have the team competing now and long term.

As I was sitting at the Diamondbacks game last night against the Nationals, I was growing more and more agitated as the D-backs left more and more men on base. 

So, I found even the little things were agitating me.  Besides I had the time since the game was entering boredomville.

Don’t get me wrong, most people that show up at a baseball game are true and genuine fans, however there are people I can do without at the baseball game…

The Florida Marlins were off to a hot 13-1 start and playing well until they ran into the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Obviously, the Pirates’ advance scouts saw holes in Bonifacio’s swing as the Bucs handcuffed both Hanley Ramirez and Emilio Bonifacio. 

The Marlins have been struggling to get wins from their rotation as they went through 20 straight games without a win from a starter, 14 short of the Major League record.

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Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs came as a shock to many in the baseball world.

Manny was widely regarded as one of the best pure-hitters in the game, and his recent positive test for a substance that can be used to recover from a steroid cycle was another dark cloud hanging over the national pastime.

Dontrelle Willis wasn't a one-hit-wonder. He wasn't a flash-in-the-pan kid who fooled hitters for only one summer.

He won 58 games before he was 25-years-old. He played a critical role for a World Series Champion. He nearly won a Cy Young Award.

Dontrelle Willis still has the physical tools to be a dominant major league pitcher—he is too young to have lost that already.  

What Dontrelle lost was the confidence, the swagger, and the bravado that he displayed on the mound as a kid in Florida.