OOTP 21: March/April Recap – Some surprises, some disappointments

We’re through one month of the virtual 2020 MLB season, and while there’s some optimism about real-life baseball being played relatively soon, I wouldn’t hold my breath yet.

First, let’s check in on the virtual NL West standings through the season’s first month.

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Dodgers	18	12	.600	—
Padres	17	14	.548	1.5
Giants	15	16	.484	3.5
D’backs	14	17	.452	4.5
Rockies	12	17	.414	5.5

Aside from Arizona struggling a bit, the standings are pretty believable. And for as poorly as the team has played and as perplexing some of the decisions Dave Roberts has made, they’re still on a 97-win pace.

In the rest of the NL, the Mets and Reds are leading the way. New York is an MLB-best 22-9, while the Reds are 20-10. The Phillies are 19-12 and leading the Wild Card. The Brewers and Padres are tied for the second spot.

In the American League, the Rays are pacing the junior circuit at 23-10. The White Sox are leading the Central at 18-13 and the Astros are atop the West at 17-14. The Yankees are 18-14 and in the first Wild Card spot, while the surprising Royals are 17-14 and in the second spot.

Statistically, the Dodgers have gotten some solid performance, but there are also players who are under-performing.

Player	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS+	WAR
Mookie Betts	8	22	.304	.368	.589	152	1.4
Justin Turner	7	17	.294	.397	.529	146	1.3
Will Smith	5	12	.263	.321	.513	119	0.8
Cody Bellinger	4	18	.243	.366	.450	118	0.7
Joc Pederson	9	24	.260	.342	.573	140	0.7
Gavin Lux	5	16	.297	.366	.516	134	0.7
Corey Seager	2	12	.269	.343	.395	98	0.3
Max Muncy	6	16	.155	.339	.361	89	0.2

As expected, Betts is doing his thing. Turner is off to a surprisingly hot start, especially in the power department. Bellinger is struggling a bit as he comes of his 2019 MVP campaign. Pederson is tied with Eugenio Suarez for the NL lead in home runs. Lux is five months away from the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Seager and Muncy are struggling, but the Dodgers are getting the slack picked up by others.

Here’s how things look on the pitching front.

Player	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9	WAR
Walker Buehler	2.28	2.41	1.2	11.6	1.7
Clayton Kershaw	3.23	3.20	1.2	8.5	1.1
Julio Urias	3.62	3.53	1.1	10.0	0.8
David Price	3.12	3.90	4.4	6.5	0.7
Alex Wood	6.23	5.55	3.0	6.2	0.0

Buehler is making a great case for the Cy Young early on, while Kershaw is more than holding his own as the team’s No. 2 starter. Urias is off to a solid start, with some strong peripheral numbers. Price isn’t missing as many bats, but he’s still been pretty effective. Wood, on the other hand, as struggled mightily.

And here’s the bullpen.

Player	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9	WAR
Kenley Jansen	3.65	1.03	2.2	13.9	0.8
Ross Stripling	0.84	2.25	0.8	11.8	0.3
Brusdar Graterol	1.93	2.09	6.8	14.5	0.3
Pedro Baez	1.23	1.74	6.1	14.7	0.3
Blake Treinen	2.70	4.05	2.7	8.8	0.1
Adam Kolarek	4.66	3.59	2.8	4.7	0.1
Edubray Ramos	0.00	3.88	4.5	4.5	0.0
Caleb Ferguson	7.15	6.86	5.6	13.5	-0.4

Despite a couple hiccups, Jansen is throwing pretty well. The trio of Stripling, Graterol and Baez have been strong, even if Graterol (in Triple-A currently) and Baez have been a little wild. Kolarek has been overexposed, while Ramos has all of two innings under his belt. And then we come to Mr. Ferguson, the punching bag of the early season virtual Dodgers’ bullpen. He has been downright bad, even if he carries a high strikeout rate.

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We’ll do standings and statistical updates every month from here on out, with the standings perhaps being updated more frequently.