At the beginning of the season, players’ performance gets blown out of proportion — the good, the bad and yes, even the ugly. It’s early. You can’t get carried away with such a small sample, but it’s still fascinating to see how players fare out of the gate and analyze whether they can maintain hot starts.
Often, the best player on a team gets off to the best start, but on the flip side, players such as Yermín Mercedes of the White Sox, Tyler Naquin of the Reds or Phillip Evans of the Pirates can surprise as a team’s top performer in the early going. That is a great part of the game.
Here is my rundown of the standout starts from each team through nine to 11 games, and what I expect for these players this season.
(Stats are through Monday’s games unless otherwise noted.)
National League East
Atlanta Braves: Ronald Acuña Jr., RF
Slash line: .447/.500/.
