10 amazing early-season pitching performances that have surprised MLB fans

Shelby Miller, Detroit Tigers. Major league teams have been trying to extract the latent talent from Shelby Mller’s arm virtually since the Cardinals drafted him out of high school in 2009. His work has been uneven at best: a 44-58 record and 4.05 career ERA.

But anchored in Detroit’s pen, Miller is coming up big this year. He beat the White Sox in extra innings, then beat the Mets in extras days later, followed by a scoreless inning to beat the Pirates.  In eight innings, he’s allowed just a single hit and just three total baserunners.

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals. The sense entering 2024 was that Ragans could have a breakout season. So far, so good.

In four starts, he’s worked 23 innings with a 1.93 ERA. Ragans is winless, for which he can blame Kansas City’s offense. It’s supported him with an average of just two runs in those four starts. In Kansas City’s other dozen games, the offense has averaged six and a half runs per game.

7 ways Week 1 of the 2024 MLB season exposed experts' spring misjudgments (calltothepen.com)