Major League Baseball has just wrapped its third week of play, and with it has come historic winning streaks, large comebacks and a few surprises in the standings.
The Tampa Bay Rays came out swinging as soon as the 2023 MLB season began, going on a historic 13-0 start to the season before eventually losing their first game of the season to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, April 14. Tampa Bay’s 13-0 start tied a modern era record in MLB history, with the only other teams having accomplished that feat being the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 and the Atlanta Braves in 1982.
One of the biggest games so far this season was an April 11 matchup between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs. Seattle took an early 7-0 lead over the Cubs in the top of the second inning, but the Cubs didn’t plan on staying down. After scoring one run in the bottom of the second, the Cubs mounted an eight-run comeback in the bottom of the third inning, which included a go-ahead grand slam from Cubs right fielder Nelson Velasquez to put the Cubs up 8-7 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Cubs would go on to score six more runs and their bullpen turned in 7.2 innings of work and ended up winning the game 14-9 over the Mariners.
Even with the season underway, there were still a few players who signed contract extensions with their current teams. The San Francisco Giants agreed to a contract extension with ace starting pitcher Logan Webb for five years at $90 million. The Cubs also agreed to two contract extensions with their players. Nico Hoerner and the Cubs agreed to a three-year, $35 million contract extension on March 29. The Cubs also agreed to a contract extension with All-Star outfielder Ian Happ for three years and $61 million.
The standings around the MLB have slightly changed over the third week. Over in the American League, the Rays sit on top of the AL East with a 14-2 record, the best record in the MLB. The Minnesota Twins sit on top of the AL Central with a 10-6 record and the Texas Rangers sit in first place in the AL West with a 9-6 record. Over in the National League, The Braves are in first place in the NL East with a 12-4 record, the best in NL standings. Over in the NL Central, the Brewers are in first place with an 8-6. In the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks are in first place with a 9-7 record.
There have been some impressive offensive performances to start the season. Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins leads MLB with a .471 batting average. Pete Alonso of the New York Mets leads MLB with eight home runs. Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Ryan Mountcastle of the Baltimore Orioles are tied for the MLB lead with 20 RBIs. Nico Hoerner of the Cubs and Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins, both Orioles, hold a three-way tie with eight stolen bases. Matt Chapman of the Blue Jays leads MLB with a 1.203 OPS.
Over on the pitching side of the league, Sonny Gray of the Twins leads all of MLB with a 0.53 ERA. Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees and Shane McClanahan of the Rays are tied with four wins. Pablo Lopez of the Twins leads MLB with 33 strikeouts. Jordan Romano of the Blue Jays leads MLB with six saves. Jeffrey Springs of the Rays leads MLB with a 0.50 WHIP.
