Cincinnati Reds sit alone atop National League Central two weeks in

The Cincinnati Reds have come out of the gates strong and are in first place all alone two weeks into the 2017 campaign.

Nobody expected a start like this from the 2017 Cincinnati Reds.  They were destined to be a sub-.500 team.  Some prognosticators thought they could sweep the Philadelphia Phillies to start the season, but it was downhill from there.

Now, two weeks after an Opening Day loss, the Reds are all alone in first place in the National League Central.  This despite the fact that four of their top five starters are on the DL.  This despite the fact that perennial NL MVP candidate Joey Votto has gotten off to a second straight slow start.  This causes him to be underrated, but maybe this team is even more underrated.

The Reds’ offense has been impressive to be sure.  They are second in all of MLB behind the Washington Nationals in slugging percentage.  This has been accomplished through a combination of a higher than normal batting average and an MLB leading five triples to date.

The Reds are tied with the Texas Rangers for second in MLB in runs scored 13 games into the season.  Only the Arizona Diamondbacks have scored more runs.  The Reds are also second in the NL behind the Nationals in OPS so far this season.

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Besides the offense, the Cincinnati Reds have been able to keep the other teams in check so far this season.

So far in 2017, the Reds have the sixth best ERA in all of baseball.  For perspective, they ended up with the eighth worst ERA at the end of last year.  It was only that good because of the addition of Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen to the bullpen the second half of the season.

The Reds are third in MLB in strikeouts, trailing only the vaunted New York Mets staff and the MLB-leading Boston Red Sox.  They are also fourth in batting average allowed.  This one, perhaps more than any other stat, however, may be due to the small sample size of only being two weeks into the season.

More than that, though, has been the play of the bullpen.  They are second in the NL with a 2.65 ERA while throwing the most frames of any time in baseball.  They also already have 70 strikeouts in 57 2/3 frames.  This is a bullpen heading into spring training that was praying Scott Feldman and Drew Storen could make a difference.

Next: Eugenio Suarez off to a fast start in 2017

This season could take a turn at any moment.  In the meantime, we might as well enjoy it.  After all, if they don’t make the playoffs this season, 2018 may be lost to another year of rebuilding.