Opinion

Few if any would’ve envisioned the St. Louis Cardinals to be hovering around .500 a month-and-a-half into the regular season. The Cardinals are the reigning National League champions, the team many picked to run away with the Central Division.

Yes, the season is young, but the Cardinals’ unexpected slump to begin 2014 is reason enough to believe general manager John Mozeliak could make a few moves at the trade deadline.

There is perhaps no franchise outside of the Chicago Cubs that is more cursed than the Cleveland Indians. Most would agree that Cleveland as a sports city is the most cursed in the entire country. While the city has had small amounts of time in the spotlight, such as when LeBron James came to town for just under a decade. Before LeBron was even born, something much more important to Cleveland sports was brewing. 

We can either feel sorry for the New York Yankees, or we can look them in the eye and be honest with them.

You should have been able to see this coming, guys.

For what's happening right now in The Bronx is indeed not the least bit surprising. The Yankees entered 2014 with an expensive roster with a lot of starry names on it, yes. But due to a combination of old age and painful track records, said roster also had a relatively high likelihood of being ravaged by injuries.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Miami Marlins have a 20-18 record, good for third place in the National League East. However, they could be losing one of their biggest stars.

The Cleveland Indians haven't gotten off to the best of starts here in 2014. Over the first quarter of the season, the team boasts an 18-20 record, good for third place in the American League Central.

The team's pitching staff has been decent, but the bullpen has done most of the heavy lifting. The starting staff on the other hand, has been wildly inconsistent.

A quarter of the season is in the books, and most Dodgers fans would agree that their team has played to about a quarter of its potential. 

One of the most popular picks to represent the National League in the World Series this season, Los Angeles began the week just one game over .500.

When Major League Baseball chose to implement expanded instant replay for the 2014 season, the game changed for the better. Despite hiccups in the system or uncertainty around new, untested rules, the sport is now better equipped to give fans a fair outcome on every single call.

And for his next trick, Rougned Odor will pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

The "Year of the Pitcher" in 2010 turned out to be the start of the "Age of the Pitcher." Good pitching has become easy to find in the last five seasons. And with the league's ERA starting the week at 3.80, it's been especially easy to find in 2014.

But if you want to find the really good stuff, here's a three-word hint: National League, yo.

If you asked me before the season whether I thought the Colorado Rockies offense could be the best in baseball, I wouldn't have ruled out the possibility.