There have been some surprises after little more than a month of play. The Dodgers are 19-10 and lead the NL West by five games over the second place Giants while the Phillies languish at the bottom of the NL East.

Andre EthierThe Nationals are off to a great start with an 18-10 record, trailing the Dodgers by just ½ game for the best record in the National League. They have a five-game lead over last place Philadelphia in the NL East standings, and it is quite surprising to see the Phillies with a 14-16 record. Still, they had a similar start in 2008 when they won the World Series. 

The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost one of the best players in MLB history to free agency, were regarded as in the midst of a rebuilding process for the 2012 season. Yet, they have bounced back and have an 18-11 record for third best record in the NL. They lead the NL Central by 2 1/2 games over the Cincinnati Reds. 

Scoring Differential

Of the 16 teams in the NL, there are just six that have outscored their opponents this season. St. Louis leads by a wide margin in this category out scoring their opponents by 65 total runs. Second best is the Atlanta Braves with a +23 runs differential, third best is the LA Dodgers posting a +20 scoring differential. Fourth best are the Washington Nationals outscoring their opponents by 14 runs and then both the Reds and surprise Houston Astros posting a +10 run differential. 

In preseason reports, Milwaukee was the pick to win the Central Division but currently are in fifth place with a 12-17 record and getting outscored by a league-worst 34 runs on the season. 

Offensive Production Down

Simply stated, it is amazing to me the number of AAA caliber players batting in the Majors in 2012. Only three teams in the NL are batting over .260 with the Cardinals at .285, the Braves at .269, and the Mets at .262 for the season. There are 11 teams batting .240 or worse for the season and six of them are in the National League. The Oakland A’s are batting a horrific .213 as a team. 

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are struggling offensively, batting .238 for the season and just .217 in road games. They will not be able to hold on to the division lead if they continue to bat this poorly. Moreover, they have lost Jayson Werth to injury and their offensive production is weakened further by his loss. The Nationals rank 28th with 96 runs scored, 23rd with a .238 team batting average, 16th with a .312 on-base-percentage, and 26th with a .353 slugging percentage. 

Although their pitching staff is the best in baseball, I do not see them maintaining this level of excellence over a 162-game season. They were exposed Sunday night when the Phillies drubbed them 9-3 with one of their best starters in Zimmerman on the hill. Their bullpen will steadily become suspect as the season wears on. Yet, right now, you have to be impressed with their top rankings in the four major pitching categories with a 2.59 ERA, 22 quality starts, 1.10 WHIP, and .213 opponent batting average. 

I think the more alarming development in the National League is the near complete power outage in games played to date. Seven of the bottom eight teams in home runs per game are from the National League. The Padres are dead last in the majors, hitting just 0.40 home runs per game. By comparison, the Yankees are best in the majors, hitting 1.35 home runs per game, and St. Louis is best in the NL and fifth in the majors averaging 1.28 home runs per game. Only four NL teams rank in the Top-12 in home runs per game in the majors. 

So, pitching will keep the Philadelphia Phillies in contention and will keep them in the large majority of games simply because the opposing offenses are weak and can be dominated by all five Philadelphia starters. Joe Blanton, the fifth starter for Philadelphia, threw his first complete game shutout since 2006 just last week. 

Team Money Stats

The Dodgers have been the best money producer in the NL this season, making 822 with their 19-12 record. These stats presume a 100 unit wager in every game played. Washington has rewarded their backers, making 654 units with their 18-10 record for the season. These teams, however, having been losing bets in road games with the Dodgers posting a -94 unit result and an 8-8 road record. The Nationals have lost 58 units with 6-6 road mark. 

Major League Baseball Money Statistics

 

Team

SeasonRecord

Money

Made

Home

Home Money Won

Road

Record

Road Money Won

O-U

1

Baltimore

19-10

1342

8-5

312

11-5

1030

13-15

2

Tampa Bay

19-10

860

13-3

837

6-7

23

13-14

3

LA Dodgers

19-10

822

11-2

916

8-8

-94

13-14

4

Cleveland

17-11

720

8-8

14

9-3

706

13-15

5

Washington

18-10

654

12-4

712

6-6

-58

11-17

6

NY Mets

16-13

512

10-6

414

6-7

98

15-13

7

Texas

19-10

493

8-5

36

11-5

457

10-17

8

Oakland

15-14

475

6-7

-165

9-7

640

10-18

9

St. Louis

18-11

459

8-4

216

10-7

243

15-14

10

Atlanta

18-12

291

8-5

107

10-7

184

16-12

11

Houston

13-16

98

9-7

412

4-9

-314

21-8

12

Toronto

16-13

81

8-7

-126

8-6

207

15-13

13

Cincinnati

15-13

67

8-6

39

7-7

28

11-16

14

Pittsburgh

12-16

-24

6-6

106

6-10

-130

7-19

15

Seattle

14-17

-28

6-7

-207

8-10

179

14-17

16

Miami

15-14

-137

6-5

-192

9-9

55

13-15

17

Arizona

14-16

-152

6-8

-322

8-8

170

17-12

18

Chi. Cubs

12-17

-174

8-9

-8

4-8

-166

12-16

19

San Francisco

14-15

-175

8-7

-3

6-8

-172

13-15

20

NY Yankees

15-13

-256

7-6

-276

8-7

20

12-15

21

Chi. White Sox

13-17

-426

5-9

-491

8-8

65

13-16

22

Colorado

12-16

-490

8-10

-278

4-6

-212

15-12

23

Detroit

14-14

-514

9-9

-483

5-5

-31

11-16

24

Kansas City

9-19

-652

2-13

-1114

7-6

462

13-14

25

Philadelphia

14-16

-706

5-6

-474

9-10

-232

17-13

26

Boston

12-16

-721

4-10

-875

8-6

154

18-9

27

Milwaukee

12-17

-856

6-7

-365

6-10

-491

17-11

28

San Diego

10-20

-930

8-13

-442

2-7

-488

13-15

29

LA Angels

13-17

-1063

9-8

-412

4-9

-651

10-20

30

Minnesota

7-21

-1078

3-9

-522

4-12

-556

15-13