From Last Night:

• Iwakuma sharp as the Mariners walk off in 13
• Neither Kershaw or Miller dazzle, but the Cards win 5-3
• Corbin beats the Padres
• Colon dominates the Astros
• Cobb shuts down the Yanks as his Rays get to CC
• Strasburg beats the Phils with a brilliant outing
• Ellsbury walks off on the Tribe
• The Jays beat the O’s in a crazy 9th

What I’m Watching Today:

• Wainwright comes to KC to battle with Shields (2p Eastern)
• Fernandez and Ordorizzi face off in a Florida prospect affair (3p Eastern)
• Tyler Skaggs makes his season debut against the Rangers (330p Eastern)
• Greinke faces Wilson in an LA battle (8p Eastern)
• Darvish faces the Dbacks in Game 2 of a DH (930p Eastern)

The Big Question:

• How does you team look on Memorial Day?

Every Wednesday at New English D, we roll out our weekly Dynamic Standings Projection update, but it’s a conventional rule of thumb for many to take stock of their team on Memorial Day. Generally, at this point you have a general sense of the team’s strengths and weaknesses and the statistical data is starting to provide some meaningful indication of how your team is going to do going forward. I’ll defer you to our weekly updates, which you can find by clicking the link, to see exactly how we think every team will finish, but I’ll offer a couple quick thoughts about MLB so far in 2013:

1. I undersold the Red Sox – I liked their offseason moves, I just didn’t think Lester and Buchholz would recover like they did. Contenders.
2. I told you the Royals were vastly overrated by the national media – Their pitching is now average, but their offense is terrible. Pretenders.
   
3. Cleveland is decent, but not great – My initial prediction for the Tribe is a little light because I made it before they added the very good Michael Bourn, but they still aren’t a team with long term staying power. They’re playing at their best, which means there is nowhere to go but down. Borderline.
4. I told you the Rangers would be great – They don’t miss Hamilton and Napoli at all. Contenders.
5. The Angels will hit, but they don’t have the arms – The team will play better, but their rotation weaknesses are too big to overcome. Borderline.
6. The Pirates are right on the cusp – I said they’d finish over .500, and I think they just might. But they don’t have the talent to make a playoff run with St. Louis and Cincinnati. Pretenders.
   
7. I did not give the Diamondbacks enough credit – I got caught up in bashing their weird offseason and didn’t appreciate the talent they do have. Contenders.
8. The Rockies aren’t a good team, but they’re better than I gave them credit for – The offense can carry the horrible staff enough to finish near .500. Pretenders.
9. The national media doesn’t get why the Dodgers are losing, but I do – They took on everyone’s overpaid players and aren’t getting enough from Kemp. People focused on the price tag and not the product. The Dodgers have a lot of players who have their best years behind them. They bough names, not production. They’re better than this, but not good enough to make the playoffs. Borderline.