Bryan Reynolds (10) runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
There have been surprising developments in the first month of the MLB season. Here are four that I’m buying and selling.
No one could have ever imagined that the St. Louis Cardinals would be in last place and that the Pittsburgh Pirates would be in first place a month into the regular season.
But it’s reality, and the Pirates look like baseball’s biggest surprise and a team that should be in contention in 2023 and beyond. The Cardinals, meanwhile, look nothing like past Cardinals teams and is resulting in people in St. Louis — fans, team officials, etc. — wondering what it will take to get out of their early funk.
But that’s just one of six divisions that have offered surprises to start the 2023 season. Here are four developments that FanSided’s MLB Insider Robert Murray is either buying or selling.
Buy: Pittsburgh Pirates’ hot start
During spring training, I told my fellow The Baseball Insiders co-host Adam Weinrib that I was buying stock in the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here they are, 31 games into the regular season, and they are 20-11 and in first place in the National League Central.
And I think they are for real.
Now, I’m not sure if they have enough juice to stay atop the NL Central for the entire season. But the roster that general manager Ben Cherington has built, which ranges from young prospects to experienced veterans, has the ability to contend for the foreseeable future. Especially with Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes signed long-term and with Oneil Cruz and a promising farm system also a key part of their long-term plan.
Credit to the Cherington, manager Derek Shelton and the entire organization for the strong start. The Pirates have not been viewed as contenders for a long time. Now, 2023 may finally be the start of a promising new era of baseball in Pittsburgh.