The tradition rich stacked New York Yankees have had a terrible start to the season. A 5-10 record isn’t completely terrible, but we’re talking about the New Yankees of all teams. They have players like DJ Lemahieu, Judge, Hicks, Stanton, Torres, Sanchez, and that’s just scratching the surface of the good players they have. Only three players are batting .250 or higher and that’s really just unacceptable. This team is worthy of winning the World Series this year and they’re sitting 5 games out already. If they keep this up, they will seriously not make the playoffs.

On a positive note, the Seattle Mariners have started off hot. Sitting at 11-6 and in first place in the AL West, they really look good. Mitch Haniger is playing great baseball and stepping up to be the leader this team needs. Outside of him and maybe James Paxton who is on the 60 day IL, they’re is not many known names on this team. With a weak AL West, if they keep playing well they can surely make a run at the playoffs. 

The Boston Red Sox are still here to play ball ladies and gentlemen. Everyone thought they’re definitely a selling team this season, but out of nowhere, they’re back to playing well. They are also 11-6 with Xander Bogaerts is hitting .386, J.D. Martinez has six home runs already this season, and they’ve got a red hot pitcher in Nathan Eovaldi. This team is surely a shocker and it’s not like they’re a bad team, they were just over their peak and on the road to declining. The Red Sox got some more left in the tank and they look ready to make a playoff run early on. 

The Kansas City Royals have opened up the season 9-6. Although their record isn’t too incredible, this was a fourth place team last year that made some really solid moves in the offseason. They’ve acquired Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi, Michael Taylor, Jarrod Dyson, Hanser Alberto, and more. Those five players are needed pieces to the Kansas City puzzle and some of them have been big so far. The Royals are one of two teams who have not lost a series yet, the other being the World Series champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers. This team needs just a little bit more before I’m sold on them being a good team. Pitching is a must and some of the offense is quiet, but when this team plays on all cylinders, expect quick, fun, and exciting play from the Kansas City Royals.

Eight in a row! The Oakland Athletics started out the season 1-7 and are now 9-7. We never really know what to expect out of the A’s every year, they’re good to hang, but will they ever take that next step or fall back down to being a lower tier team. This team is always super quiet and are always usually around the Wild Card spot and this hot streak has saved their season for sure. Although the season is 162, it’s crucial to get out to a head start and that goes for anything in life. Can Lowrie and Olson lead this team to the playoffs this season? 

That’s the five most surprising teams this season. I’m sure the craziness will level out over the long 162 game season, but it’s always fun to watch and look at teams playing well and starting off the season hot. Most people expect the Dodgers to go back to back this season and it’s probably true, so to focus on some teams that we didn’t expect to be good is refreshing. This is a good year to get back into watching baseball and the excitement has only begun. Watch out for these five teams in 2021.

All statistics used are as of 4/20/2021