Jump on the Bandwagon of These 6 MLB Teams Right Now

It's way too early in the 2024 MLB season to make sweeping proclamations about which surprising results are real or fake. That should wait until, like, June.

If anyone nonetheless feels an urge to hop on a bandwagon, please do so in a responsible way by choosing one of the six teams we're about to talk about.

These are clubs that weren't expected to do much this season but have succeeded in turning heads at the outset. Every one of them has a winning record and is offering legit reasons to think the wins could keep coming.

Please note that you won't find any usual-suspect contenders among this group. If FanGraphs gave a team at least a 35 percent chance of making the playoffs on Opening Day, they were not allowed here.

Let's hit on two honorable mentions and then check off the teams that did make the cut in ascending order of their winning percentages.

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians had a 33.2 percent chance to make the postseason coming into the year yet are 7-2 with a league-best plus-32 run differential. So, what gives with the omission?

Simple: Shane Bieber. He had been off to an incredible start with 20 strikeouts and one walk over 12 shutout innings, but now he's set to miss the rest of the year after having Tommy John surgery. To call this a devastating blow would be underselling it.

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are off to a 5-4 start and especially have to love what they've seen from lefty Reid Detmers, who's struck out 19 batters through his first 11 innings.

This start nonetheless doesn't seem sustainable. Even setting aside the Angels' minus-12 run differential, more specific concerns include a collective .304 on-base percentage and a 5.58 ERA even despite Detmers' dominance.

Record: 5-4, 4th in NL Central

Run Differential: Plus-7

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

Remember when the Reds had terrible starting pitching? It's already beginning to feel like it was a long time ago.

Their starters' ERA is down from 5.43 in 2023 to 3.33 so far this year, and that's more real of a deal than you might think. Per the Stuff+ metric found at FanGraphs, Reds starters boast the best collection of stuff of any team in the league right now.

Notably, Hunter Greene's breakout may finally be upon us. The righty has been blowing hitters away with his fastball, holding them to a .133 average with a 41.2 whiff percentage.

The Reds are otherwise watching Spencer Steer further solidify himself as a rising star. After leading all rookies with 86 runs batted in last season, he's been among the best hitters of this young season by way of a .406 average and three home runs.

The rest of Cincinnati's offense hasn't really gotten going yet, but that should change. This is, after all, mostly the same offense that produced a solid 4.8 runs per game last season.

Why Hesitate?

It is, however, not hard to pinpoint a valid point of concern for the Reds' offense in the early goings. Their guys have struck out 28.7 percent of the time, tied for the highest mark in MLB.

Of particular concern are Elly De La Cruz and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Talented though they may be, between them they have 29 strikeouts and three walks in 77 plate appearances.

Record: 6-4, 3rd in AL Central

Run Differential: Plus-19

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

True, the Royals are only two games over .500. But based on that run differential up there, they should be more like four games over.

Of all the things driving this impressive start, none looms quite as large as the dramatic improvement taking place with the club's starting pitching. Whereas it had a 5.12 ERA in 2023, you can now find the Royals' rotation ranked second in MLB with a 1.60 ERA.

Newcomers Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo are doing what they were meant to do, and it's only getting harder to downplay Cole Ragans' ascent as one of the American League's top hurlers. He now has a 2.46 ERA in 14 starts as a Royal.

Speaking of ascendant stars, Bobby Witt Jr. is batting .350 with eight extra-base hits already, and he's but one part of what's a low-key exciting lineup core.

Between Witt, Maikel Garcia, Salvador Perez, MJ Melendez and Nelson Velázquez, the Royals have five regulars who have thus far teamed up for a .970 OPS and 12 home runs. That's backed up by a collective 55.3 hard-hit percentage.

Why Hesitate?

Of course, the Royals were two games under .500 before they won four straight against a Chicago White Sox team that, let's face it, is not quite up to par.

And as good as the starting pitching has been, the bullpen remains a problem. Royals relievers have a 4.67 ERA, with only 23 strikeouts in 27.0 innings.

Record: 6-3, 2nd in AL Central

Run Differential: Plus-1

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

The Tigers were the last team to lose a game this season, thus proving that even half-hearted bold predictions can come true.

As for how they've gotten off to such a good start, here's where we have another pitching success story. Detroit hurlers have a 2.99 ERA.

Tarik Skubal, especially, is continuing his ascent as one of the league's must-watch aces. He's struck out 15 of the 46 batters he's faced so far.

Yet the real attraction here is Detroit's bullpen. It has a 1.27 ERA, and backing that up is the second-lowest contact rate in the league right now.

There's some really good stuff involved in all of that, not least of which is the stuff belonging to closer Jason Foley. He's touched 101 mph, and that's on a sinker that otherwise bedevils hitters with intense arm-side run.

Why Hesitate?

There are soft schedules, and then there's the schedule the Tigers have played so far. They've played the White Sox, Mets and A's, and they couldn't even win their series against the latter this past weekend.

The Tigers are also still working on getting their offense going, particularly with regard to Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Colt Keith. The three of them have combined for a .598 OPS.

Record: 7-3, 2nd in AL East

Run Differential: Plus-26

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

Good pitching is something the Boston Red Sox weren't exactly associated with in 2023. They posted a 4.52 ERA, with their starters proving to be especially homer-prone.

Well, now the Red Sox have the best ERA in the league at 1.49.

Boston's starters boast a 1.53 ERA alongside a 5.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. This is suspiciously good stuff for a collection of less-than-big names, but there's also a method at work here.

Pitching coach Andrew Bailey is a big fan of not throwing fastballs, and it's working. Red Sox starters have a mere 13.5 percentage of four-seam fastballs, and all the other pitches they are throwing are holding batters to a .203 average.

The early success of Boston's starters has eaten up so many headlines that you'd swear the bullpen was an afterthought. But it's not. It has a 1.45 ERA in its own right, and the relievers who have posted that currently sit atop the MLB leaderboard for Stuff+.

Why Hesitate?

The Red Sox would only be a game above .500 if you removed their three-game sweep of the A's. And they needed two one-run victories to secure that.

The Red Sox have also been less than impressive on offense and in the field, and Trevor Story's dislocated shoulder doesn't figure to help the latter. He had been arguably their biggest difference-maker on defense.

Record: 6-2, 2nd in NL Central

Run Differential: Plus-10

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

When the Brewers won the National League Central last season, it was very much in spite of their offense.

They ranked 25th with a meager .385 slugging percentage, and that lack of punch was all too apparent in the playoffs. In losing 2-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card Series, they got outhomered 4-1 and outscored 11-5.

To this end, the .448 slugging percentage the Brewers have so far in 2024 is a huge improvement. And even that figure obscures how good the core of their lineup has been.

They need Christian Yelich, Willy Adames, William Contreras and Jackson Chourio to carry their offense, and they've been equal to the task. All five are off to strong starts, collectively accounting for a .976 OPS.

The pitching, meanwhile, is holding. Corbin Burnes may be gone and Devin Williams may be injured, but you can still find Freddy Peralta dominating hitters. He currently leads NL pitchers in both hits per nine and WHIP.

Why Hesitate?

The Mets, Twins and Mariners may end up having good years, but it seems fair to say the Brewers caught all three at the right time as they sort through some early-season issues.

Let's also pump the brakes on the Chourio hype train. Because while his power and speed have been as advertised, he's also struck out 10 times and walked twice in 34 plate appearances.

Record: 8-2, 1st in NL Central

Run Differential: Plus-18

Why Hop on the Bandwagon?

Contrary to the other teams we've discussed so far, the Pirates are only off to a modest start on the pitching side of things. Their ERA is a good-not-great 3.60.

Yet that's arguably encouraging, given that the best pitcher Pirates fans are likely to see this year has yet to throw even one pitch for the big club. That's uber-prospect Paul Skenes, who's struck out 11 of the 20 batters he's faced with Triple-A Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, what the Bucs do have going for them at the big league level is a nasty bullpen and a firm offensive attack.

The former boasts a league-best 4.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which traces in no small way back to Aroldis Chapman. His late-career resurgence is very much ongoing, as he's yet to allow a hit through 3.2 innings of work.

To the latter, the Bucs are getting what they need to get out of Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes. The three of them have a solid .810 OPS between them.

Why Hesitate?

The Pirates are off to a hot start? Sounds familiar...and probably because they were 20-8 at the outset of 2023 before they ultimately finished 76-86.

And while winning two of three against the Orioles over the weekend is a nice feather in the Pirates' hat, six of their wins came against the Marlins and Nationals. They've combined for four wins thus far in 2024.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.