Livan Hernandez has a 1.46 ERA, Ivan Rodriguez is bating around .350 and reliever Tyler Clippard leads the majors in wins. Believe it: An above .500 team is playing in Washington in mid-May. But the Nationals’ early-season success isn’t the only unexpected hot start. So do these other surprise teams have staying power?
Cincinnati Reds
The Reds won seven of eight games entering Monday night’s game against the slumping Brewers. Like the Nats, Cincinnati has an interesting mix of young up-and-comers (Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Mike Leake) and veteran leaders (Scott Rolen, Orlando Cabrera and Aaron Harang).
NL Central contender » With the Cubs and Brewers off to awful starts, the division seems to be between the Reds and Cardinals. Cincinnati’s success will come down to a pitching staff that relies heavily on Leake, Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey — all 24 years old or younger.
San Diego Padres
The Padres have the lowest ERA and most stolen bases in the NL. San Diego is holding teams to about three runs per game. Closer Heath Bell and the back end of their bullpen has helped San Diego win 10 games by two runs or less.
Pretender » At some point the Padres must score runs. They rank 14th or lower in the NL in batting average, runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Adrian Gonzalez doesn’t have enough help in the lineup for the Padres to hold off the Giants and Dodgers in the NL West.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have a better record than any team in the AL West, but are in third place in the AL East. Alex Gonzalez, Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista are among AL leaders in RBIs and the pitching staff is second in the league in quality starts.
Pretender » The success of pitchers Ricky Romero and Shaun Marcum has made up for losing Roy Halladay to free agency. And they have one of the top offenses in the majors. It’s too bad they play in the same division as the two best teams in baseball. A contender in the AL West or Central, the Blue Jays are a pretender in the East.
