Photo by Paul Muth.
Week one power rankings usually never mean anything. There's a reason that baseball plays over 100 games, and this past week the KBO did a great job of either introducing or simply reminding everyone of how chaotic the league is. Because of the lack of bullpen depth across the league, no lead is safe. It's not always fun for fans of the specific team that it happens to, but it makes for a more interesting game for the rest of us.
Last week we started to see teams settle into their identities. The Lotte Giants cooled off something fierce, while the Kia Tigers and LG Twins shook off their slow starts. Meanwhile, the NC Dinos have just been finding ways to win all along.
1. NC Dinos (10-1); previous week rank - 3
The Dinos are the toughest out in the KBO at the moment. The Dinos put together 3 extra innings wins in one week, which is more strain anyone's heart needs in that short amount of time. They're currently riding a 6 game win streak thanks in part to Sung Bum-Na's 3 home runs this week alone (one of which was the league's first walkoff Dino-Dinger). The Dinos have a tough start to the week against the defending champ Doosan Bears, but then it eases up against the Hanwha Eagles.
2. LG Twins (7-4); previous week rank - 5
The Twins started the week 2-3 and ended it 7-4, so you could say they figured some stuff out. Taking on the league-worst SK Wyverns is sure to do that for any team, but following that up with a series win against last year's Korean Series runner-up is a good sign that things are headed in the right direction. Nothing says KBO-ness more than their Tuesday victory, scoring 14 runs without a single home run. Starting pitcher Casey Kelly turned in a solid performance Saturday with 6 innings of 3 hit baseball. The Twins schedule looks pretty favorable as they match up with two sub .500 clubs this week (Lions and Wiz).
3. Doosan Bears (7-4); previous week rank - 4
The Bears are almost as exhausting to watch as the Dinos. They sport the league's best offense, but it's paired with the league's worst bullpen. They've yet to lose a series this season, but they also haven't swept anyone. First baseman Oh Jae-Il has been on a tear, batting .408 last week with 2 home runs and 10 RBIs. The Bears have an opportunity to gain some serious early season ground on the Dinos beginning tomorrow, before they finish the week against the unimpressive Lions.
4. Lotte Giants (7-4); previous week rank - 1
The Lotte Giants had nowhere to go but down last week, and that's exactly what they did. Dropping a series against the Bears is understandable, but to follow it up by dropping a series to the sub .500 eagles will get you dropped in the power rankings. Son Ah-seop was out of his mind at the plate last week batting .608 despite last week's 2-4 record. This week they'll look to get back on track against the Tigers and the Heroes.
5. Kiwoom Heroes (7-5); previous week rank - 2
Kiwoom found themselves in a similar situation as the Giants, taking a solid first week and squandering it. The offense just isn't really there at the moment, as evidence last Wednesday when they were shut out against the 9th place Lions. This week Kiwoom should be able to get back on track, with an easy series against a Wyverns team on a 9 game losing streak. They'll follow that up with a statement series against the Lotte Giants.
6. Kia Tigers (5-7); previous rank - 8
The Tigers made up some ground this week, due in large part to the bat of former Astro Preston Tucker. En route to a 13-4 victory against the Bears, Tucker went 4-4 with a home run and 7 RBIs. That's impressive at any level. Unfortunately, the rest of the offense has yet to catch up to Tucker's blistering pace, and they remain a sub .500 team. If they can take the series from the Giants to begin the week, the following series against the Wyverns could start some positive momentum to push them back into the win column.
7. Hanwha Eagles (5-7); previous rank - 7
The Eagles inexplicably finished last week with a solid series win against the Giants. They are the second worst offense in the league, and the fact that they've even won 5 games is pretty surprising. They have a fairly even match up to start the week against the KT Wiz, before they travel to take on the league leading NC Dinos later in the week.
8. KT Wiz (4-7); previous week - 9
The Wiz seem to be the most unlucky team so far to start the season. They're second in the league in runs scored, and still only have 4 wins to show. That's baseball for ya. That's the KBO for ya. They should be able to gain some ground early in the week against the Eagles, but we'll see if that gives them any momentum when they take on the LG Twins later on in the week.
9. Samsung Lions (4-8); previous week - 6
I don't think the Lions will be down here for that long. They're not very good at the moment, but they're not this bad. This week probably won't be the one that they make up any ground through, as they take on the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears. Maybe next week fellas.
10. SK Wyverns (1-10); previous rank - 10
Meet your 2019 Orioles. These guys are in for a long season.
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”