AL East Roundup: Blue Jays hanging in

Sep 10, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; The standings listed on the wall of the green monster show the Boston Red Sox in last place in the American League East during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the first seasonal AL East Roundup. The posts will regularly go through the division, detailing the happenings of each team in the AL East– one of baseball’s most notorious divisions– while ranking the teams in terms of what they’ve done in the given week.

With the season merely a week old, the numbers are hard to generalize, but with that said, what’s baseball without some ludicrous, outlandish analysis?

The Boston Red Sox

Apr 15, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop

wearing number 42 for

takes a moment to remember the Boston Marathon bombing during the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports started out in 2015 the way many baseball enthusiasts expected. They hit. In the opening series, against one of baseball’s worst teams in the Philadelphia Phillies, the Sox took two of three to win the series before advancing to New York to face the Yankees where they also followed suit. Just for good measure, the Red Sox returned home and took two of three from the World Series favourite Washington Nationals.

Boston Red Sox

In nine games, the Red Sox have played to a +4 run differential and 9-6 record. Leading the way is the surprise utility man Brock Holt who’s had a .414/.433/.483 slash.

Both Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez have made significant contributions to their new club with Sandoval hitting a .264/.350/.283 slash and Ramirez smashing a team leading five home runs.

As expected, the Sox’s pitching appears to be their achilles heal. Their team ERA of 4.44 ranks 24th across the entire major leagues. But hey, if you can put up five runs per game, it might not matter if you have a below average pitching staff.

Apr 15, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA;Baltimore Orioles third baseman

(center) celebrates with with teammates after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles continue to be that team that hovers around contention without having a existential superstar. The O’s opened the season taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays before dropping two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays. Like seemingly every team in the east, the Orioles also took two of three from the Yankees before splitting a four game series with the Red Sox and getting swept by the Blue Jays.

The Orioles 7-8 record isn’t astounding to say the least but it’s right where anyone would have predicted given their current -7 run differential. Leading the way is centerfielder Adam Jones who’s been as hot as anyone in the league with his .418/.468/764 slash and five home runs along with reborn right fielder Travis Snider who’s hit .310 to start off his first campaign in the AL East since being traded from Toronto in 2012.

Ubaldo Jiminez, in his first two starts this season, has been their best pitcher. His ERA is an ace-like 2.30 with a walk rate of four per nine innings, a mark he hasn’t touched since his 2013 season with the Cleveland Indians. If he can harness that control over the season, he may be a huge weapon for a very pedestrian like Orioles starting rotation.

Apr 16, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Tampa Bay Rays celebrate the win against Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.Rays beat Blue Jays 4-2, Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Rays 

The Rays are pretty much where everyone expected them to be: close to last place in the division. At 7-8 they are currently in 4th place with a -11 run differential that projects for more future disappointment.

The Rays started the season dropping two of three to Baltimore before taking two of three from Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins. Then, as Jays fans already know, the Rays took three of four games from Toronto before losing four straight games against the New York Yankees. They are currently in rubber match game against the Red Sox looking to overtake the Jays for third place in the division.

Outside of Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, there hasn’t been any eye opening performance from the Rays thus far. But in Archer’s four starts he’s been incredible with a 1.07 ERA and 6.00 K/BB ratio.

Given the Rays lack of fire power, it’s likely this brief start will eventually encapsulate their entire season. With a negative run differential, they are going to have to rely more on Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly when they return if they stand any chance at AL East contention.

Apr 15, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter

singles during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees

Surprisingly, the Yankees have found themselves tied for second place in the AL East with a run differential of +19. They started out the season by limping through the first three series against the Jays, Red Sox and Orioles losing two of three in each before sweeping the Rays on the road. The Yankees have taken two of four games thus far with the possibility of a third Thursday.

But how? This team is so old, they were supposed to be cellar dwellers in the division. The return of Alex Rodriguez has certainly helped out as he is tied for the team lead in home-runs with four bombs while maintaining an impressive .419 OBP. Turns out eyes don’t age.

His colleague, Chris Young, is tied with Rodriguez in home runs with an even better slash of .368/.442/.816, which comes as a easily welcomed surprise for the Yankees.

The addition of Nathan Eovaldi has helped a struggling pitching rotation as he leads the rotation in ERA with 3.12.

Are the Yankees here to stay? Likely not. It shouldn’t be long before one of their dinosaur baseball players gets hurt and they are left relying on secondary talent that, let’s face it, just isn’t October baseball caliber.