Welcome to Verducci’s View, a new weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom will empty out his notebook over email and cover MLB’s hottest topics, provide in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, look forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more. This week, we’re focusing on teams who had unexpectedly ugly opening months, Jordan Walker's encouraging signs and more.
The calendar is their best friend, at a time when they have few of them. The Phillies, Mets, Astros, Red Sox and Royals, all built to contend, instead entered Sunday with the five worst records in baseball. As Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper said, “It’s not good, but obviously, there’s a lot of teams that have come back from where we’re at.”
