Diamond Deep Dives (4/7-4/13)
Welcome to Diamond Deep Dives, my weekly article covering all things MLB!
The second full week of the regular season is in the books. While it is still too early to say how every team will end up, more pieces are falling into place. Today we will cover some of the more surprising results from this past week, upcoming matchups to keep an eye on, and some injury updates including a huge blow to the Chicago Cubs pitching staff.
Around the MLB
The Texas Rangers were off to a hot start this season with an 8-2 record through their first 10 games. There have been some questions about their offense though, and it seems those questions have become more apparent this past week. The Rangers were on the road all week and ended with a 1-5 record dropping them to 9-7 on the season. It’s too early to freak out, but somebody or something needs to turn this team around. The pitching has still been good enough to win, but the offense has yet to fully put it together. The Rangers have an upcoming series at home against the Angels followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On the other hand the Los Angeles Angels are quite a surprise currently boasting a 9-6 record and tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the American League. In a year where many had the Angels finishing last in the AL West, they have come out strong. Led by veterans such as Mike Trout, who is currently tied for the league lead in home runs with 6, but also with the help of a new face in the league. Kyren Paris made his MLB debut in 2023 and played a handful of games in 2024, but made the Angels opening day roster heading into the 2025 season. The 23 year old second baseman is on a heater to start the new campaign. Appearing in 14 games so far, Paris is batting .368 with 5 homers, a 1.309 OPS, and a 271 OPS+. While the sample size is small for both Paris, and the Angels, this team may continue to surprise everyone throughout the year.
I feel like we just have to talk about the Atlanta Braves again. After starting the season 1-8, the Braves looked to get back on track this past week in their series against the Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a solid start to the week as the Braves grabbed two out of three against the Braves at home, but they would then proceed to go on the road and drop two out of three to the Rays. They now sit at 4-11 and are heading up to Toronto to face a solid Blue Jays team. The Braves one saving grace right now might be the impending return of their ace, Spencer Strider. Strider was shut down in 2024 to get surgery to repair damage to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right arm. It now seems that Strider will be making his 2025 debut this upcoming Wednesday in Toronto after having a solid rehab outing with the Braves Triple-A affiliate, where he struck out 13 over 5.1 innings. While this may be a huge piece returning for the Braves, I’m not sure it will be enough to turn the team around, but maybe it will keep them in the running long enough for the return of Ronald Acuna Jr. who is still recovering from his torn ACL.
Justin Steele
The Chicago Cubs have been a very fun team to watch so far this season, their offense specifically. Led by players like Kyle Tucker, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ the Cubs currently have the most runs scored in the MLB this season with 116 total. All around though the lineup has been great with a guy like veteran catcher Carson Kelly having a career start to the year, where he even hit for the cycle back on March 31st, and 1st baseman Michael Busch starting the year strong.
The pitching has been questionable at best though, but veteran Justin Steele, the Cubs ace, was really hitting his stride this past week with a 7 dominant innings against the Texas Rangers where he struck out eight and didn’t allow a run. Sadly, Steele was added to the 15-day IL after experiencing discomfort in his elbow. Then Cubs fans' worst nightmare came true when it was announced Steele would be undergoing season ending surgery on his elbow. A massive blow to a team that is 11-7 and currently first in the NL Central.
Player Spotlight
Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Hunter Greene, was drafted in the 1st round, 2nd overall, back in 2017. The young flamethrower would finally make his debut in 2022 and he was a well known and exciting prospect coming out of the minors. His first two seasons were not the prettiest though and he had a lot to work on to become the ace the Reds hoped for him to be.
Then in 2024 he had a breakout year. Over 150 innings Greene had a 2.75 ERA, 169 strikeouts, and accumulated a 9-5 record through 26 games. This was enough to earn him his first all-star appearance and Greene has started right where he left off. This past week Hunter pitched in 2 games, one against the San Francisco Giants and one against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over these two games Greene pitched 15.2 innings with 15 strikeouts and allowed 0 runs. Greene now sits with a 2-1 record, a .98 ERA through 27.2 innings on the year, and 31 strikeouts to start his 2025 campaign.
Looking Ahead
The San Francisco Giants are currently 11-4 and have two huge series coming up. They will be going on the road the next 6 games to face the Philadelphia Phillies (9-6) and the Los Angeles Angels (9-6). With a potent offense led by breakout center fielder, Jung Hoo Lee, the Giants offense has seemed legit thus far. This will be another huge stretch of games against two very solid clubs so far this year that will help show us more about this Giants club that has been a surprise to everyone to start the year.
Once again, I hope you enjoyed this weeks article and I hope to see you all here next week!