We are one month into the 2023 MLB season and as usual, there have been some surprises and some disappointments through the first 30 days for all 32 teams.
Twenty-five or so games into a 162-game season is a small sample size for baseball and you can’t win a division in the first month … but you can undoubtedly bury yourself in the standings and make the rest of the season a mountain to climb out of.
A bad start to a season can make for a long summer for a team and their fanbase. Yes, their expectations may not be high, but an excellent start to any season can be good for any team. Generally, when a team doesn’t meet expectations, it’s not the players that take the fall, but the manager.
Last season four managers did not survive the season. Joe Girardi (Philadelphia Phillies), Joe Maddon (Los Angeles Angels), Charlie Montoyo (Toronto Blue Jays), and Chris Woodward (Texas Rangers) all fell victim to the reality of the job of not getting it done.
Don’t get me wrong, I would never want to see someone lose their job, but it’s the reality of the sport and the business.