Matt Garza

Adam Dunn finally made a splash.  The Mets finally tried Jose Reyes hitting third.  Tim Lincecum proved again why he’s the best pitcher in the game. 

Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

Scott Podsednik batting .457 and on pace to steal 94 bases? A fluke.

Livan Hernandez’s 16 scoreless innings and 2-0 record? A fluke.

The Pirates’ 7-5 record? Definitely a fluke.

However, there are some other early season trends around baseball that are more than just a stroke of good luck. Let’s take a look at Five Early MLB Trends that are No Fluke.

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Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman has been the best in baseball in accumulating young starting pitching. And they are not just young. They are good. They are very good.

The cup is overflowing in Tampa Bay.

After two weeks of the season, all five of the Rays starters are tapping into their immense potential.

The Rays' bullpen hasn't been what most would call reliable in the early going of the 2010 Major League Baseball season.

However, it appears that Rays pitcher Matt Garza has found the remedy for their troubles.

Don't let them pitch much.

For the second time in as many games, Garza relegated bullpen appearances to one inning of Rafael Soriano. Both games featured Garza pitching eight innings in a dominant fashion. Garza only gave up one earned run in each performance.

This is a weekly focus on the hurlers that dominated their adversaries. These pitchers put up nasty numbers this week and made big league hitters wish they were playing T-Ball again.

SP Jorge De La Rosa (Col)

9 K, 0.00 ERA, Win            

For the Tampa Bay Rays, there is no tomorrow. The Rays head into the 2010 season having put together a terrific spring, winning a club record 20 grapefruit league games. Their winning percentage was best in the majors at .750 and they won seven of eight to enter the season with some momentum.

All that Spring success doesn't mean a hill of beans now, though, because in a few days, the bullets fly for real and the team embarks on a 162 game escapade to ruin Boston or New York's hopes of a ticker tape parade.

2008 was truly a magical season for the Tampa Bay Rays. After taking the entire baseball world by surprise by beating out the Yankees and Red Sox for the AL East Title, the Rays knocked Boston out of the playoffs to advance to their first ever World Series. The Rays followed up the best season in franchise history, with the second best season in team history in 2009. Normally 84 wins would have signaled a party in Tampa Bay, however in 2009 it was a major disappointment.

You've heard it plenty of times already this spring. The 2010 season is the most important season that the Tampa Bay Rays have faced in the entirety of their short history.

While that may sound like daunting news, it is slightly relieving to observe the fact that this will likely be the most talented team to ever take the green carpet at Tropicana Field.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the pitching staff that the Rays have assembled for 2010.

For a franchise that has managed one post season in their 12 year history, the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly known as the Devil Rays) do not possess an all time roster filled with hall of famers.

However, during the last decade, the Rays definitely have fielded some talented players that deserve recognition for being among the best the franchise has had to offer.

While many players deserved consideration for this list.

Entering the holiday weekend, the Rays came in as one of the hottest teams in baseball. When it was over, the Texas Rangers were in first place and the Rays fell further behind in both the AL East Divisional race and the AL wildcard chase.

Texas swept Tampa Bay by silencing the red hot bats of the Rays, and taking advantage of uncharacteristic defensive lapses in their three game sweep.