Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint, but the runners have reached the first checkpoint, as the 2026 season is a month old. And what a season it’s been so far. Like trees budding in the spring, we’ve seen young clubs such as the Pirates, A’s and Cardinals blossom. We’ve seen teams with high expectations, like the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Mets—limp (literally) out of the gate. We’ve seen some managers acquit themselves well, while others, such as Alex Cora and Rob Thomson, have already been given the pink slip.
But what’s perhaps stood out most of all is the incredible individual performances we’ve seen thus far from superstar hitters, pitchers, rookies and skippers, setting up what promises to be exciting award races through the rest of the season.
