It’s official. MLB is already about five percent into the 2021 season after a week full of baseball. Most teams have played around seven or eight games, right about the five percent mark of a full 162-game campaign. Yes, there’s a lot of baseball left. But still, with one week of the season down, there’s no better time to start examining the best and worst of what we’ve seen.
There’s been a number of great headlines from the first week of action. Joe Musgrove just threw the first no-hitter of the season and the first no-no in San Diego Padres franchise history. The Cincinnati Reds are 6-1 thanks to a blistering start from their offensive, scoring a league-leading 63 runs in seven games. Chicago White Sox rookie Yermin Mercedes made history with eight consecutive hits to begin his MLB career.
MLB teams in trouble already
Despite all the great moments, this article has to examine the other side of things. Check out this list of three teams who have gotten out to slower and more painful starts. These are the three teams already in trouble for the 2021 MLB season.
Honorable Mention: Washington Nationals
It goes without saying that suffering the MLB’s first COVID-19 outbreak before the season even began is a bad omen. The Washington Nationals had their first series against the New York Mets, set for Opening Day, canceled after four players tested positive for COVID-19. In total, 11 players were forced to quarantine.
Washington took the field the following week with a cast of replacement players and the results haven’t been outstanding. The Nationals are 1-3 in these four games and scoring an average of only three runs per game, which ranks in the bottom tier of the league. According to Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projections, Washington was expected to win 85 games this season. It’s easily possible things turn around once their full cast of players is available, but this has been a troubling start.