Welcome to my first edition of “The BullPen.”  The Major League Baseball season is a month and a half in.  It is time to take a look at some of teams who have impressed as well as a team that has been a disappointment to this point in the season.

First off, let’s look to the Eastern division in both the American and National Leagues.  The Washington Nationals are atop the NL East by a ½ game over the Atlanta Braves heading into action on May 17.  The Nationals have a record of 23-14, which is second best in the NL behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.  You have to look at their starting rotation, which includes Ross Detwiler, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmerman, to be the biggest reason for the team’s early season success.  4 out of the 5 starters have an ERA of 2.75 or better.  With additions like the rookie Bryce Harper, who has 15 hits (9 XBH) so far in the season in 17 games, and who is another reason to watch this team, the Nationals should be a team that should stay near the top of the NL East standings throughout the season.

Another team that is starting off the season well is the Baltimore Orioles.  They are currently tied with the Tampa Bay Rays in 1^st place in the AL East with a record of 24-14.  The Baltimore Orioles have a team ERA of 3.49, and are lead by Wei-Yein Chen (4-0, 2.45) and Jason Hammel (4-1, 2.68).  Jim Johnson is solid in the back of their bullpen with 13 saves and an ERA of 0.51 having only given up 1 earned run in 17 appearances.  Manager Buck Showalter has this team moving in the right direction.  It will be interesting to see how long Baltimore can keep their momentum rolling.

While looking in the American League how can you look past the Texas Rangers?  They also have a record of 24-14 on the season and have an outstanding run differently of +78 which leads all of Major League Baseball.  The St. Louis Cardinals are 2^nd in run differential with +67.  The Rangers, as a team lead all of baseball with runs scored with 212, batting average (.292), and slugging percentage (.480).  Josh Hamilton is having an unbelievable start to the season as he is hitting .404 with 18 homeruns, 45 RBI, and an OPS of 1.296.  He is absolutely in a zone right now and it doesn’t seem like he will be slowing down very soon.  How fun has it been watching Yu Darvish pitch as well this season?  Darvish looks likes he has no issues coming over from Japan.  Darvish, in 8 starts this season is 6-1 with an ERA of 2.60 and has 58 strikeouts in 52 innings of work.  Look for the Rangers to keep on rolling throughout the season, barring any major injuries, of course.

Those are 3 teams that have been very impressive to this point in the season, now let’s take a look at a team that has been a disappointment since the beginning of the season.  The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has to be one of those teams that have left people scratching their heads.  With the offseason signings of Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson, the Angels were one of the teams many people believed had a chance to make it to the World Series.  However, to this point in the season, the Angels are in 3^rd place in the AL West, 7 games behind the Rangers with a record of 17-21.  Albert Pujols is hitting .213 on the season and hit just his 2^nd homerun of the season on Wednesday against the White Sox.  Pujols is leading the team with 17 RBI.  Hopefully Albert will pull out of his slump because the Angels could be a fun team to watch this year.  A couple of bright spots on the Angels roster are Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout.  Trumbo is hitting .344 with 6 homeruns and 16 RBI, while Trout is hitting .333 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI in 16 games since being called up from the Salt Lake Bees.  Jered Weaver is holding their pitching staff together with a record of 5-1 and an ERA of 2.83 in 8 starts.  Weaver also pitched a no-hitter on May 2^nd against the Minnesota Twins.

Each week I’ll give out my Top 5 and Bottom 5 teams in Major League Baseball.

My Top 5:  1. Texas Rangers 2. Los Angeles Dodgers 3. Tampa Bay Rays 4. St. Louis Cardinals 5. Washington Nationals

My Bottom 5:  5. Seattle Mariners 4. Chicago Cubs 3. Colorado Rockies 2. San Diego Padres 1. Minnesota Twins

Here are some games that I am looking forward to seeing this weekend as Interleague play begins on Friday:  (5/18) Cincinnati Reds @ New York Yankees as Andy Pettitte gets his second start of the season for the Yankees and Bronson Arroyo gets the start for the Reds.  LA Angels @ San Diego Padres as Jered Weaver goes up against Jeff Suppan of the Padres.  (5/19)  It’s not Interleague play, but the Cardinals will be in LA to take on the Dodgers.  Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers will be going up against Jake Westbrook of the Cardinals.  (5/20) Boston Red Sox @ Philadelphia Phillies as Josh Beckett will be on the mound for Boston and Cliff Lee will get the start for the Phillies.

Don’t forget ESPN 700 is your home for Major League Baseball.  Coming up on Sunday Night Baseball the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  You can hear the game live this coming Sunday at 6:00 PM with pregame coverage beginning at 5.

David Glauser

Twitter:  @espn700daytona   #espn700bullpen

Meagan Monique Good was born August 8, 1981. Beginning her career at the age of four, Good has appeared in numerous commercials, television shows, feature films, and music videos.

She began her acting career around the age of four or five. In the early stages of her career, Good started out doing work as an extra on television shows such as Doogie Howser, M.D. and Amen.When she was thirteen, Good was cast in her first film in the 1995 hit Friday. Good first began to gain recognition for her performance as troubled teen Cisely Batiste in Kasi Lemmons’ critically acclaimed 1997 film Eve’s Bayou, which earned Good two award nominations, including her first NAACP Image Award nomination.

After taking on small film and television roles for the next few years, Good would begin to transition into more mature roles in the early 2000s. From 1999 to 2003, she appeared as Nina on Nickelodeon’s hit show Cousin Skeeter. Good later took on small roles in the films 3 Strikes and House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute. 2003 proved to be a major year for Good, as she landed roles in the action-drama Biker Boyz and the romantic-comedy Deliver Us from Eva, which helped her transition from child to adult actress. Good also appeared as the character Vanessa for five episodes during the third season of My Wife and Kids, before being replaced by Brooklyn Sudano for undisclosed reasons. In 2004 Good starred alongside Jordana Brewster, Sara Foster, and Jill Ritchie in the action film D.E.B.S., and for her performance received a Best Actress nomination at the 2005 Black Movie Awards. She also had small roles in The Cookout, Lance “Un” Rivera’s directorial debut, and the teen dance film You Got Served.

In 2005, Good co-starred in the horror film Venom as well as the well-received indie noir Brick. She then played opposite rapper/actor Bow Wow in Malcolm D. Lee’s Roll Bounce. In 2006, Good took on the role of Coco, which she felt was her first true leading lady role, in the urban action-drama Waist Deep. Good also voiced a character for the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours that same year. The following year, Good landed a role in the dance movie Stomp the Yard, starring alongside Ne-Yo and childhood friend Columbus Short. In 2008, Good appeared in the horror film One Missed Call and the Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru, and in the latter half of the year could be seen in Saw V. Good’s most recent role was in 2012′s Think Like A Man.

Good has also made appearances in many music videos, by artists such as 50 Cent, Imajin, Isyss (of which Good’s sister La’Myia Good is a member), Lil’ Johnny, Memphis Bleek, Tyrese, and Will Smith.