We are approaching the end of April which means that we are just about a entire month into the 2008 Major League Baseball season. So far this young season we have encountered our fair share of surprises.

For starters, who would have guessed that the Baltimore Orioles would be atop the American League East? Even better, who would have guessed that Tampa Bay would be tied with them? The O’s and the Rays are tied with Boston for the top seed in the East, one and a half games up on the Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays are sitting in the cellar, just three and a half games back out of first. Tampa has won six in a row and that is with staff ace Scott Kazmir on the disabled list. Filling the void is last year’s surprise James Shields with three wins and a 2.54 ERA, including a complete game shutout. They also have one of the youngest and most talented lineups in the game, led by B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena. Nonetheless, most of us expected the Rays to be better than usual.

Not so with Baltimore. After the loss of Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard, everyone expected the O’s to be one of the worst teams in the majors. Instead they are winning, led by starters Brian Burres and Matt Albers. Burres is currently sporting a 2.49 ERA and three wins, Albers a 1.65 ERA and two wins. Closer George Sherrill currently has nine saves on the year despite an ERA of 4.66. It’s not always pretty but Sherrill gets the job done. He came over from Seattle in the Bedard deal and appears to have tipped the trade advantage to the east coast team. Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts are having their expected good year, but so are veterans Aubrey Huff (leads team in RBIs with 16) and catcher Ramon Hernandez. The Orioles’ success typifies the surprising start to this new season.

In the Central, the team many people picked (including me) to win the World Series, the Detroit Tigers, have gotten off to an extremely sluggish start, losing seven of their first eight games. Their potent offense has been anything but up until just a week or so ago. The Tigers’ pitching has been even worse. Ace Justin Verlander has just one win on the season and a 6.50 ERA. Beleaguered former ace Dontrelle Willis is currently on the DL, pitching only five innings and giving up four runs. The lone bright spot for Detroit’s pitching has been minor league journeyman Armando Gallarraga, who has won two games so far, with an ERA of 1.50 and thirteen strikeouts in just eighteen innings. That being said, their bats have started to heat up. In just the past week Magglio Ordonez has hit three home runs and has ten RBIs. Newcomer Miguel Cabrera has two home runs and six RBIs. This team could explode at any moment and I still think has a great shot to win it all.

Another surprise is the abysmal start of Cleveland Indians‘ ace C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has just one win on the season. In thirty-two innings he has given up twenty eight earned runs and walked seventeen batters. He has a league high ERA of 7.88. Fausto Carmona, despite an astounding twenty two walks in twenty eight innings, has pretty much picked up where he left off last season, with three wins and a 2.89 ERA. The surprising ace so far for the Indians is veteran Cliff Lee, with four wins and a ridiculous ERA of 0.28. Behind the solid pitching of Lee and a solid offense, Cleveland has managed to stay in second place behind dark horse Chicago.

Another surprise is in the NL West, where San Diego and Colorado are battling for last place. Even more surprising is that San Francisco is not only not in last place, but has actually won a game, despite Barry Zito winless with a 7.53 ERA. Young star Tim Lincecum leads the team with four wins and thirty-six strikeouts and I would argue has supplanted Zito as the ace of that team. Even more surprising is that they are actually hitting the ball a little; I said a little. Veteran catcher Bengie Molina leads the team with four home runs and sixteen RBIs. Aaron Rowand is batting .293 with ten RBIs and John Bowker has provided some pop to compliment the two veterans. This won’t last. Lincecum will continue to pitch well and Rowand and Molina may continue to hit but the Padres and Rockies are not going to continue to play this poorly.

This brings us to the NL East, where the surprising upstart Florida Marlins are atop the division, one and a half games ahead of the Mets and Phillies. What is it about Florida and young talented lineups? Josh Willingham, Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Jeremy Hermida and Jorge Cantu (yea, that’s right) are all hittining the cover off the ball. Scott Olsen and Mark Hendrickson lead the team with three and four wins respectively. Once again, the Marlins prove that you cannot count them out and that you can actually succeed in this game without a mega payroll. Screw Billy Beane, someone should write a book about Florida’s scouting department.

The Mets and Phillies have struggled to start season, in large part due to significant injuries and considerable slumps by some of their best players. Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes are all batting below .250. Of the big four, only David Wright is having a good year, batting .292 with four home runs and twenty-one RBIs. When the spark of your offense, your lead off man, is not getting on base, it makes it hard to generate runs. Likewise for the Phillies. Reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins has not started a game since April 9, as well as capable leadoff man Shane Victorino, who returns to action this week. Former MVP Ryan Howard is batting a paltry .174 with five home runs and eleven RBIs. Howard also leads the league in strikeouts with thirty-seven, a year after setting the record for most strikeouts in a single season with one-hundred and ninety nine. Nevertheless, MVP hopefuls Chase Utley and Pat Burrell have been carrying this team on their back, with help from outfielder Jason Werth and backup catcher Chris Coste.

Pitching has also had its ups and downs for these Turnpike rivals. Newly acquired superstar Johan Santana has looked like the dominant force he is for much of the season but only has three wins, in large part due to a lack of offensive support. Beleagured former ace Pedro Martinez has again found himself on the disabled list and pitchers John Maine and Oliver Perez have looked spotty this season. The Mets’ bullpen has been less than stellar so far. Of the eight relievers to have five or more innings of work this season, only four have ERAs less than 3.00. Of those four, only Billy Wagner has at least ten innings of work. The three relievers with the most innings for the Mets have an average ERA of 6.02.

The Phillies pitching, a source of much heart burn last year, continues to be a source of frustration this year. Adam Eaton, who had the highest ERA in the National League last year, started the season out beautifully, giving up no more than three runs in each of his first three starts. He has since come back down to earth, going five and three and two-thirds innings in each of his previous two starts, respectively. He has yet to record a victory, or a loss, this season. Last year’s surprising star, rookie Kyle Kendrick, is going through a bit of a sophomore slump. He is 2-2 so far this season with a 5.13 ERA. He has looked very good at times and looked very shaky at others. The Phillies number one starter, Brett Myers, is having a frustrating year, largely due to the loss in his velocity (for more on Myers’ struggles this year see my post earlier today).

That being said, true ace Cole Hamels, despite getting knocked around in his two previous starts, has an ERA of 2.75 with thirty strikeouts on the year. Seventh inning specialist J.C. Romero has yet to give up an earned run in over eleven innings. Set up man Tom Gordon, after having a rough start to the season, has settled down nicely and has an ERA of 2.08 and two wins over the past two weeks. New closer Brad “Lights Out” Lidge has been just that. Lidge has yet to give up an earned run this season and has four saves, with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Lidge has a higher strikeout per nine innings ratio than any other reliever in major league history. When Lidge is healthy (both mentally and physically) there is nobody in baseball better.

Perhaps just as surprising as Florida’s success is Atlanta’s lack of it. The Braves are only one and a half games back of the Mets and Phillies, but are a game under .500, despite being picked by many to win the division. Their pitching, when healthy, a problem this season, has been solid. Unfortunately, oft injured Mike Hampton is back on the DL and Tom Glavine is making his first trip to the disabled list in his career. John Smoltz is banged up and will likely miss a couple starts. Closer Rafael Soriano only pitched four innings before also finding himself on the DL. That being said, when healthy, they’ve been very good. No starter has an ERA above four and this has kept them in every game. Mark TeixeiraBrian McCann and got off to slow starts and third baseman Chipper Jones is, shocker here, banged up. Nevertheless, the Braves’ offense has started to heat up in the past week or two, so look for them to make a surge.

One of the great things about baseball, and sports in general, is its ability to constantly surprise and amaze and I am looking forward to a season of just that.