Who is the biggest surprise of the season in baseball, good and/or bad?

Question

Who's the surprise of this season, good and/or bad?

Answer 1

I'd have to say The Detroit Tigers.

Seriously...no one thought they would be this good.

Answer 2

I think the biggest good surprise in Baseball this year is -

Ryan Howard/Philadelphia/First Base/
In only 84 games he has
316 at bats
45 runs
88 hits
10 Doubles
1 Triple
28 Home Runs
71 RBI's
184 Total Bases
31 Walks
& only 97 Strike Outs
with a .278 .AVG

Consider he has been in the league only a few years and is 27 years old and you can see he's an up and comer this year.

Bad Surprise -
Randy Johnson

The guy isn't the old "UNIT" he used to be. I'd say he's an outdated model actually. He's lost something in his pitch and it's not just miles per hour. He's been giving up mad HR's this year and he isn't really do the Yanks any favors in my opinion.

He is 10 and 7 with a 5.13 ERA. Which isn't the worst in baseball but is a disappointment overall.

Answer 3

It has to be the Reds. The AL West has been diminishing for years and the Rangers have been steadily improving. The NL West is typically known for being the weakest division in baseball. The Blue Jays will come in fourth in the AL East. While they won't lose 100 games, 4th is not good. The Cardinals were predicted to win the NL Central and the Reds were not talked about as a real contender, so the fact that they will win the division makes them the biggest surprise in my mind.

Answer 4

Collectively, the Detroit Tigers are biggest and best surprise in baseball, As of right now , my (ahem!) Tigers have the best record in the major leagues at 59- 28. Quite a turnaround fron recent seasons.

Answer 5

No questions asked, the Tiggers! They have surpassed all expectations for this season. You can argue that the Mets are the other huge eye opener, but they have spent the $$$ to make it that way. They Tigers are doing it with exceptional pitching from thier young staff, and veterans like Pudge and Ordonez. It's going to be a HUGE dissapoinment if they dont make it as far as the ALCS. I'm sure Leyland will have something to say about that!

Answer 6

Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates was slated to platoon at third. He is batting like .361 and is doing much better than expected. The Pirates suck though but he and Jason Bay are having stellar seasons. They will probably lose them in free agency as Pittsburgh doesn't like to pay big money to keep players. Look at Barry Bonds.

Mark Prior has been injured I think 3 years in a row. He just got injured again and will not pitch for maybe 2 weeks. Maybe it is his conditioning.

Answer 7

I think it's how the NL West, after being the embarrassment of baseball last season, is now one of the best divisions, with the worst team being the Diamondbacks, who are 25-40 outside their division despite being 4-11 interleague, which is the best out of all three cellar-dwellers in the National League.

Answer 8

Freddy Sanchez having the highest batting average in he NL, Tom Glavine having 11 wins, Cincinnati Reds 3 games out in the NL Central, Tigers being the best team in baseball, and definitely can't leave out the fact that Jonathan Papelbon is the best closer in baseball.

Answer 9

The biggest surprise is the Detroit Tigers. They have gone from being a below .500 team to leading the Major Leagues right now. Who ever would have thunk it??

Chow!!

Answer 10

It's not really one player or team but it's the rash of closers blowing saves. It's either good comeback ability by the batters or bad pitch selection. This didn't really happen a few years ago, when a team had a lead in the 9th, it was over but not recently.

Answer 11

Who would have thought that the Mets would be 13 games above the braves in the NL east?? Thats either really good for the mets or really bad for atlanta..