Just how quickly can fortunes change?
One of the many things that makes Major League Baseball great is the everydayness of it. Especially early in the season, teams can dig themselves quite a hole and then climb their way out of it in a matter of weeks, so long as they play scorching hot baseball.
Is there another sport where a team starts 7-15 and the sentiment surrounding the team should be something like, “hey, just rip off 15 wins in the next 20 games and everything will be fine,” and to have that be an entirely reasonable argument? Maybe the NBA, but they aren’t playing 20 games in three weeks.
It can happen so quickly.
Between April 20 and May 18, the Twins went 19-5 to completely turn their season on its head. Less than a month is all it took for the Twins to go from being left for dead in a continuation from last season’s collapse to a team no one wants to play right now. They had a 13-game winning streak end on Sunday. A few weeks ago, if someone told you there would be a 13-game winning streak, how many teams would you have guessed before getting to the Twins? Twenty? At least 20.
Over in the NL Central, another Midwest team flipped the narrative and navigated itself back into contention in just a few weeks. The Cardinals haven’t made the playoffs since 2022 and haven’t been one of the best teams in the league since 2015 — a veritable eternity for that franchise. They bragged about being in a transition season and when they were 9-14 and 12-17 and 14-19, yes, it certainly looked like that sentiment was coming to fruition. Again, though, baseball can come at you fast.
The Cardinals won a doubleheader on May 4 against the Mets. Those are big wins but doubleheaders can be fluky. They then swept the Pirates. It’s the Pirates. Then they swept the Nationals, who are also not very good. It’s tough to win eight in a row, but there were ways to discount the run. No more. The Cardinals went into Philadelphia and Kansas City and won four out of six games. They are five games over .500 and look every bit a contender.
Those Nolan Arenado trade rumors can be safely put away indefinitely.
The Twins still chase the Tigers in the AL Central while the Cardinals are still behind the Cubs by two games in the NL Central, but both teams are relevant again. That wasn’t the case until very recently.
Speaking of the Tigers, they have taken over the top spot in the rankings. They didn’t dig themselves nearly as deep a hole as some other teams, but they did lose their first three. They’ve been amazing since, losing no more than two games in a row. They have the best record and best run differential. They have good starting pitching, a good bullpen, a good offense and a good defense in addition to having arguably the best manager in baseball. It isn’t smoke and mirrors. They are legitimately great and don’t have a glaring weakness. It could well be a special season in the Motor City.
For now, the Tigers sit at the top.
