As we roll into May, the Yankees are in first place and possess the best record in the American League. The Mets are also in first place and own the best record in the National League. This is quite fun if you root for the Yankees or Mets or write headlines for the New York tabloids. A little reminder, however: The last season both teams actually finished the year in first place was 2006.
With their hot starts, it's no surprise the Yankees and Mets top our list as we hand out April grades. The team at the bottom -- and we mean way down there, below the muck and the mud, perhaps buried alongside the baseballs from 2019 -- is also no surprise. Let's get to it. Included are each team's projected playoff odds from FanGraphs entering Monday's games, with the change from the start of the season.
Jump to a team:
AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: HOU | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX
NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF
New York Yankees: A
Playoff odds: 95.1%, up 9.1%. Not much has changed. FanGraphs saw the Yankees and Blue Jays as essentially even heading into the season, and that remains the case. The Yankees landed in Toronto riding a nine-game winning streak, but the only winning team they've played so far was a four-game set against the Blue Jays early in the season (they split the series, with the Yankees tossing shutouts in their two wins).
Best storyline: Anthony Rizzo's MLB-leading nine home runs -- seven of them at Yankee Stadium, where he has popped a few routine fly balls into the short porch -- have been a big story, but the pitching has been outstanding. New York leads the AL in ERA, something the Yankees haven't done since 1998.
Mulligan: Joey Gallo didn't homer until his 17th game and has struck out in more than 40% of his plate appearances.
New York Mets: A
Playoff odds: 86.5%, up 14.8%. Even without Jacob deGrom, it's been an outstanding start for the Mets, with their rotation posting the second-best ERA in April behind only the Dodgers.
Best storyline: Name it. Francisco Lindor's resurgence. Tylor Megill suddenly looking like a dude. Jeff McNeil back to hitting .300. Buck Showalter looking like the right choice as manager. Eduardo Escobar's energy. The combined no-hitter. But let's go with Max Scherzer, who has been everything the Mets have wanted. He did allow three home runs Sunday, but he still won to improve to 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA. He now has gone 26 regular-season starts in a row without a loss going back to last May 30.
Mulligan: Dom Smith hit just .167 in April, but had inconsistent playing time as he tried to find the stroke that produced great numbers in 2020. He began May going 4-for-4 in Sunday night's win over the Phillies, boosting his average to .250.
San Diego Padres: A
Playoff odds: 81.9%, up 4.4%. No Fernando Tatis Jr. Blake Snell got injured while warming up for his first game. That tough walk-off loss on Opening Day. A lot could have gone wrong -- but it hasn't. (Six games against the Reds have helped, too. So has Bob Melvin.)
Best storyline: Eric Hosmer has certainly received his share of criticism since joining the Padres, and the team even reportedly tried to trade him this offseason, but he's off to a great start. Reports have mentioned a retooled swing in an attempt to generate higher launch angle -- but, really, he's still hitting the ball on the ground as much as ever. He is pulling the ball more often and, so far, they're going through for hits.
Mulligan: The decision to start C.J. Abrams in the majors with just 192 plate appearances above rookie ball remains a curious one. The Padres have managed to find him some at-bats, but he has hit just .182 and produced among the lowest hard-hit and chase rates in the majors (both in the 2nd percentile).
Los Angeles Dodgers: A
Playoff odds: 94.6%, up 1.6%. It doesn't even feel like the Dodgers are rolling just yet, but here they are already leading the majors in fewest runs allowed per game and ranking second in runs scored per game.
Best storyline: Pull up a chair, kids. Grab your bag of Cheetos. Careful, don't wipe your fingers on your shirt. A long time ago, in a baseball land far, far away, there used to be these things called complete games, when the pitcher who started the game also finished it. I know! Wild, isn't it? They used to be quite common. Then ... they just slowly disappeared. Poof. But they're not quite extinct. There has been one this season: Walker Buehler threw one, a 108-pitch, three-hit shutout. It was beautiful.
Mulligan: Justin Turner is hitting .187 with more than three times as many strikeouts as walks. His hard-hit rate, which has been above 42% the past three seasons, is at 33%.
San Francisco Giants: A-
Playoff odds: 65.0%, up 17.4%. So far, they're doing it again, although FanGraphs doesn't think they're as strong as the Dodgers or Padres. They're averaging 4.95 runs per game, best in the majors, although they're just 16th in OPS.
Best storyline: Carlos Rodon's fastball-slider combo has been so dominant that the Giants had him scrap his changeup, a pitch he threw 12% of the time in 2021. He's striking out 43% of the batters he has faced and has yet to allow a home run. Along with the addition of Joc Pederson, Farhan Zaidi's offseason moves are paying off.
Mulligan: Darin Ruf was a huge piece to the Giants' surprising success in 2021, hitting 16 home runs in 262 at-bats with an OPS over .900. Playing every day for the first time in his career at age 35, he's homerless in 83 at-bats.
Los Angeles Angels: A-
Playoff odds: 71.5%, up 29.2%. How does first place sound? FanGraphs still likes the Astros as the AL West favorites, but the Angels have improved their division title odds from 17% to 35%.
Best storyline: Mike Trout is -- knock on wood -- healthy and raking with a .324 average, six home runs and the best OPS in the majors at the start of the week. Funny thing, he doesn't even lead his own team in OPS. Taylor Ward doesn't quite have enough PAs to qualify for the leaderboards, but he's hitting .390/.493/.746.
Mulligan: Joe Maddon's bases-loaded intentional walk to Corey Seager was, in every sense of the analysis, incomprehensible. It didn't work in the moment, although the Angels came back to win the game. In fact, they're 12-5 since that bit of mad science. Baseball doesn't have to make sense.
Toronto Blue Jays: A-
Playoff odds: 96.1%, up 6.9%. The Blue Jays haven't done anything to dissuade the preseason expectations, and every time I look up George Springer is making an outstanding play in the outfield. They have ridden a 9-2 record in one-run games to their strong start as their run differential is just plus-1 compared to plus-41 for the Yankees.
Best storyline: Kevin Gausman might like a do-over on the early part of his career, but he figured things out in San Francisco and has carried that success over to Toronto. His new idea: Don't walk anybody. He has 41 strikeouts and no walks allowed in 31⅔ innings, an approach resembling that of a former Blue Jays right-hander with impeccable control: Roy Halladay.
Mulligan: Again, it hasn't been completely smooth sailing as Hyun-Jin Ryu is on the injured list, Yusei Kikuchi has 13 walks in 14.2 innings and even Bo Bichette is scuffling a bit. Still, given that 17 of their first 23 games came against the Red Sox, Astros and Yankees, the Blue Jays happily move on to May.
Colorado Rockies: A-
Playoff odds: 1.4%, up 1.0%. No, FanGraphs isn't buying this start, but the Rockies are 5-0 in one-run games and over .500 despite getting outscored.
Best storyline: When the Pirates don't want you, you know you're in a career crisis -- but Chad Kuhl is 3-0 with a 1.90 ERA and has held batters to a .161 average since coming over from Pittsburgh this offseason. His best start actually came at Coors Field when he pitched six scoreless innings against the Phillies.
Mulligan: Brendan Rodgers hit .078 in April (4-for-51), but maybe a new month is indeed all he needed. He kicked off May with a two-hit, four-RBI game (OK, playing the Reds might have had something to do with it).
Miami Marlins: B+
Playoff odds: 29.5%, up 0.2%. A seven-game winning streak to close out April vaulted the Marlins to a winning month. They're also 8-2 within the division, although their playoff odds haven't changed much from the start of the season due to the Mets' hot start.
Best storyline: Pablo Lopez has allowed one run through four starts, but the surprise has been Jesus Luzardo, who had a 6.61 ERA last season but is at 3.10 in 2022 -- one bad start mixed in with three excellent ones. His fastball velo is up, averaging 97.3 on his four-seamer, and he's throwing his curveball much more often with great success.
Mulligan: The Marlins gave Avisail Garcia a four-year, $53 million deal, but he's hitting .187 with an ugly 25-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Minnesota Twins: B+
Playoff odds: 60.3%, up 20.9%. The only AL Central team to finish April with a winning record, the Twins now rate as slight favorites in the division over the struggling White Sox, at least according to FanGraphs.
Best storyline: "We talk about all these adjectives and say he's elite and he changes the game," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after Byron Buxton's memorable third-deck, walk-off home run to beat the White Sox on April 24. "Right now, there's no better player in the world than him. I think he's absolutely the best player in the world when he's out there running around and doing his thing."
Mulligan: Carlos Correa is finally getting going with four straight multihit games, raising his average from .167 to .256.
Milwaukee Brewers: B+
Playoff odds: 87.0%, up 6.6%. Look, Pirates games count too, but they're 6-0 against Pittsburgh and 9-8 against everyone else. Then again, they haven't even played the Reds yet.
Best storyline: Eric Lauer has added a tick of velo, but that alone hardly explains why his strikeout rate has suddenly jumped from 23.9% to 36.6%. He mostly has scrapped his changeup in favor of more sliders and curveballs. If Lauer is suddenly this good, it's scary to imagine what this rotation will do with the mushy baseballs in a division with three weak lineups in the Pirates, Reds and Cubs.
Mulligan: Lorenzo Cain has been such a pleasure to watch for going on a decade now, but he's 36 and hitting .163, so Father Time might be trying to call him. Let's hope not. The defense is still there, but he's going to have to hit to stay in the lineup.
Seattle Mariners: B
Playoff odds: 33.2%, up 10.8%. They climbed into first place with an 11-6 record before a little four-game skid against Tampa Bay and Miami dampened things a bit. Still, they'll take where they're at given Jesse Winker hasn't homered, Jarred Kelenic has struggled and Mitch Haniger has played just nine games.
Best storyline: Rather than trying to bring in one of the free-agent shortstops, the Mariners signed J.P. Crawford to a long-term extension and he has been outstanding at the plate. Crawford is hitting .375 with more walks than strikeouts and slugged his fourth home run on Sunday after hitting just nine all of 2021.
Mulligan: The umpires -- at least when Julio Rodriguez is at bat. The prized rookie has been completely hosed by the umps early on. He struck out an MLB-leading 17 times on called third strikes in April -- 10 of those on pitches outside the strike zone. He has kept his composure, however, and began May with his first career home run: a 450-foot rocket launch.
Oakland Athletics: B-
Playoff odds: 1.0%, no change. Some observers thought the A's had a chance to be the worst team in the American League, so this grade is based on that curve. They've been respectable, as you can usually expect from the A's, even in a rebuilding season.
Best storyline: Paul Blackburn has made at least one start for the A's every season since 2017, but just a grand total of 27 over that span. He spent most of 2019 and 2021 at Triple-A, but the A's needed starters and he's 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA and has walked just two batters in 20 innings.
Mulligan: You know, moving a team to Las Vegas would help the leaguewide offensive drought we're seeing this season.
Tampa Bay Rays: C+
Playoff odds: 49.7%, down 3.0%. The Rays are 12-10 but haven't really been clicking on all cylinders like they did in 2020 and 2021. Injuries to Shane Baz, Ryan Yarbrough and Luis Patino have thinned the rotation, which has forced the Rays back into an opener strategy. Luckily, the expanded 28-man rosters have helped since the Rays have plenty of bullpen depth -- but now rosters go back to 26 players.
Best storyline: The super sophomores: Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan. Franco is hitting .322/.341/.575 with 13 extra-base hits and McClanahan has a 3.00 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 27 innings. Look for both of them at the All-Star Game.
Mulligan: One reason the Rays' offense was better than expected last season was their catchers hit 39 home runs and drove in 97 runs -- with Mike Zunino slamming 33 of those long balls. He's off to a .106 start (5-for-47) with just one home run and three RBIs.
Cleveland Guardians: C
Playoff odds: 17.3%, up 3.8%. The offense started out like the Cuyahoga River on June 22, 1969, but then cooled off during a seven-game losing streak.
Best storyline: Jose Ramirez is hitting .341/.421/.707 and begins the week leading the majors with 28 RBIs and ranking third in OPS. Best of all: That seven-year, $141 million contract extension. If Steven Kwan and Miles Straw keep getting on base, this offense has a chance to be respectable -- and actually fun to watch, especially with Ramirez driving in those two speedsters.
Mulligan: Aaron Civale is 0-2 with a 10.67 ERA in four starts, but there is some bad luck mixed into those results with an expected batting average via Statcast of .261 rather than his actual average allowed of .349. His hard-hit and strikeout rates are basically the same as last year. He should turn things around soon.
St. Louis Cardinals: C
Playoff odds: 38.7%, down 3.4%. They are who we thought they were. (It seems like we say this every year about the Cardinals. They would be much more interesting if they were super awesome or -- for the first time in forever -- not good, but instead they plod along and win their 86 to 91 games and usually make the playoffs. And, yes, there are franchises who would die for this.)
Best storyline: It's pretty awesome to see Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Albert Pujols together again for one final run, but Nolan Arenado's torrid start has been vital given the slow starts from Molina, Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson.
Mulligan: O'Neill had a breakout season in 2021, when he hit .286 with 34 home runs, but he has been struggling with solid contact so far. His hard-hit rate has dropped from the 93rd percentile to the 31st and his average sits at .178. Mushy ball note: Many players are hitting under .200. Can we get a mulligan on the ball?
Texas Rangers: C-
Playoff odds: 1.8%, down 6.3%. The record isn't great, but the run differential is only minus-6 and they've played a tough early schedule (meaning they haven't played the AL Central yet). It's also possible this is the high point of the season as the Rangers' playoff odds are already down to less than 2%.
Best storyline: Nobody is exactly tearing it up, so let's go with the 1970s throwback uniforms they wore on Saturday, part of the franchise's 50th anniversary celebration since relocating to Arlington in 1972. Big extra credit that the Rangers actually went with the elastic waistbands. And if you think offense is bad now, try 1972: The Rangers hit .217 with 56 home runs that season.
Mulligan: Marcus Semien hit 45 home runs for the Blue Jays last season. He's sitting on a big fat zero right now.
Arizona Diamondbacks: C-
Playoff odds: 0.4%, down 0.3%. The odds are long due to the tough NL West, but the Diamondbacks at least didn't let the season get away from them after hitting .156 during a 3-8 start.
Best storyline: Merrill Kelly, Madison Bumgarner and Zac Gallen have combined for a 1.24 ERA through 72⅔ innings, allowing just two home runs. Torey Lovullo isn't running them deep into games yet, but it's the positive start they needed from their three top starters.
Mulligan: Well, yeah, the entire lineup -- still under .200 as a team -- would like a collective do-over. Worth noting: Of their first 23 games, only four against the Nationals came against a team currently under .500.
Pittsburgh Pirates: C-
Playoff odds: 0.2%, down 0.5%. Compared to the nonexistent expectations everyone had, the Pirates haven't been completely awful. Well, except for that 21-0 game against the Cubs. Put it this way: They're 7-3 against the Cubs and Nationals so the race to Druw Jones isn't exactly a sure thing (the draft lottery won't begin until 2023, so this is the final opportunity when tanking pays off in a big way).
Best storyline: Daniel Vogelbach has hit leadoff 12 times and I don't know what that says, but it says something. Don't laugh; Omar Moreno never had a .352 OBP.
Mulligan: Bryan Reynolds, a worthy All-Star last season after hitting .302 with 24 home runs, has been pounding the ball into the ground and striking out more often than last year, so both the batting average and extra-base power have disappeared. If you're in a fantasy league, see if you can trade for him, because he should find his stroke.
Philadelphia Phillies: C-
Playoff odds: 39.6%, down 19.9%. Are the Phillies doomed to finish .500 for eternity? Are they trapped in an episode of "The Twilight Zone," their fate depending on how many times Joe Girardi will bring in Jose Alvarado with the bases loaded? The Mets' hot start has lowered the Phillies' playoff odds, but those can climb back up if the rotation improves on its 22nd-best ERA.
Best storyline: Alec Bohm could have melted after that three-error game early in the season and his caught-on-camera "I f---ing hate this place" commentary. Instead, Phillies fans cheered him the following night, he hasn't made an error since, and at the plate he has looked much more like the Rookie of the Year runner-up from 2020 (including a 94th-percentile ranking in hard-hit rate).
Mulligan: Zack Wheeler doesn't like that 5.79 ERA after finishing second in the Cy Young voting in 2021, but at least he now appears healthy after having a sore shoulder in spring training. His past couple of outings have shown velocity closer to what we're used to from him.
Atlanta Braves: C-
Playoff odds: 71.8%, down 13.8%. It's been a bit of a sluggish start, as often happens with reigning World Series champions, but Ronald Acuna Jr.'s quicker-than-expected return from ACL surgery could jump-start the team in May.
Best storyline: Kyle Wright's transformation to potential top-of-the-rotation starter looks like a huge bonus compared to preseason expectations. Remember, he spent almost all of 2021 in Triple-A, but an improved curveball has led to a 1.13 ERA and 34 K's in 24 innings (with just six walks).
Mulligan: Eddie Rosario started 3-for-44 without an RBI, then underwent eye surgery to help fix some blurry vision. He might be out until past the All-Star break.
Houston Astros: C-
Playoff odds: 82.7%, down 4.4%. Their odds haven't changed much, but it's also clear that this Houston team has more question marks than the Astros have had in a long time.
Best storyline: Justin Verlander had made one start the past two seasons, so at 39 it wasn't fair to expect the old Justin Verlander to show up. But that's the pitcher we've seen, with a 1.73 ERA and .161 average allowed. Don't discount the possibility of a third Cy Young Award.
Mulligan: Yuli Gurriel was last year's AL batting champ, but he's limping along at .213 without a home run.
Kansas City Royals: D
Playoff odds: 3.5%, down 6.6%. They're 7-6 in the division, but 0-7 outside of it. They have the worst run differential in the AL at minus-34 entering the week. The good news is that means they still have a chance! (But let's be honest: This isn't a good team. The rebuild remains a work in progress.)
Best storyline: Zack Greinke's return to his original team hasn't generated the headlines of Albert Pujols' return to St. Louis, but Greinke has a 2.57 ERA through five starts. He also has a minuscule 6.5% strikeout rate with just seven K's. Only three times since 1995 has a pitcher thrown 100 innings in a season with a strikeout rate that low -- and two of them were by Kirk Rueter. In other words, this is a high-wire act of epic nature if he can keep it going all season.
Mulligan: Whit Merrifield had an OPS+ of 10 entering Sunday's game ... which wasn't even the worst on the team since Adalberto Mondesi was at 4 before going down for the season with a season-ending torn ACL. Let's be honest again: Bobby Witt Jr. should have been the starter at shortstop in the first place, so now that there's a hole there ... oh wait, you mean they moved Nicky Lopez back to shortstop to replace Mondesi? (That is defensible, as Lopez's metrics were good there in 2021, but I say put the kid at shortstop and let's see what he can do.)
Boston Red Sox: D
Playoff odds: 35.7%, down 27.4%. With the Yankees and Blue Jays off to good starts and the Red Sox already five games under .500, their odds have taken a big hit. The pitching looks shaky, the late-inning bullpen depth is certainly a concern, and Sunday's lineup featured the likes of Franchy Cordero, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jaylin Davis. Their 0-4 record in extra innings has also been a killer. Beantown ain't happy.
Best storyline: Garrett Whitlock, stolen from the Yankees a year ago in the Rule 5 draft, started out in relief and has moved into the rotation, where he allowed one run over seven innings in his two starts. He'll have to prove he can go deeper into games, but he has the arsenal to develop into an above-average starter.
Mulligan: Is there a more frustrating pitcher than Nick Pivetta? It always seems like he's thisclose to putting it all together. He's 0-4, hasn't made it through five innings in his past four starts and is averaging 5.7 walks per nine.
Baltimore Orioles: D
Playoff odds: 0.0%, down 0.1%. If they were in another division, maybe the outlook would be a little brighter. Not in the AL East. The Orioles averaged 2.95 runs per game in April, worst in baseball -- although they did begin May with a nine-run attack on Sunday.
Best storyline: The pitching has been respectable, even grading for the overall downturn in offense, although the loss of John Means to Tommy John surgery was a tough blow. Given the Orioles' pitching philosophy in recent seasons has been "Find guys with a heartbeat," this is a nice turn of events. On the other hand, something might be masking the true ability of this pitching staff ...
Mulligan: About that left-field fence. The Orioles moved the fence as much as 30 feet back in some sections and raised the height from 7 feet to 13 feet. Combined with the dead ball, Camden Yards is now playing like a medieval fortress -- a wet, soggy medieval fortress in the middle of Scotland in January. Through April, the Orioles allowed two home runs in eight home games (1.80 ERA) and 17 in 13 road games (4.88 ERA). Meanwhile, they've hit .191 with three home runs in those eight games, so there were five combined home runs at Camden Yards in eight games -- compared to 277 in 81 home games last season. (There were two hit on Sunday, so that's seven in nine games.)
Chicago Cubs: D
Playoff odds: 3.2%, up 0.5%. Not much was expected of the Cubs, but a 6-4 start in a weak division gave some hope -- until they ended April on a 2-9 skid, including a three-game stretch in which they were outscored 25 to 3.
Best storyline: That 21-0 win over Pittsburgh was fun, but the bright spot has been Seiya Suzuki's quick transition to the majors. He's handling the higher velocity he didn't see on a regular basis in Japan while showing above-average hard-hit rates and a patient approach that has led to one of the best walk rates in the majors.
Mulligan: The Cubs need Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman to be very good if they have any chance of playing .500 ball, but the two vets finished April a combined 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA in nine starts. Stroman tossed seven scoreless innings to beat the Brewers on Sunday, so maybe that very good begins now.
Detroit Tigers: D-
Playoff odds: 4.6%, down 7.5%. The good news is the AL Central is winnable, but a six-game losing streak in which they scored just 10 runs means they're playing from behind.
Best storyline: Tarik Skubal struggled with the long ball in his first full season in the majors in 2021, allowing 35 home runs, but he's yet to allow one through four starts. Of course, many pitchers are going to see a drop in their home run rate, but in his case there is reason to buy into the results as he's throwing his sinker more and inducing more grounders.
Mulligan: Jeimer Candelario and Akil Baddoo were two of the team's few good offensive players in 2021, but both are hitting well under .200 with just one home run between them.
Chicago White Sox: F
Playoff odds: 47.6%, down 25.3%. A reminder that it's a long season, but it has been an ugly start for the White Sox, with the team's lack of depth being exposed. Things got especially weird in mid-April when Tony La Russa strangely batted light-hitting Leury Garcia third, third and second over a three-game stretch.
Best storyline: Michael Kopech first joined the Chicago rotation back in 2018, before going down with Tommy John surgery after four starts. So it's great to finally see him back as a full-time starter and pitching well.
Mulligan: Dallas Keuchel has been a Cy Young winner and one of the game's great competitors, but he might be cooked. He's 1-3 with an 8.40 ERA, following a not-great 2021, and walked five batters Sunday. Earlier, he allowed 10 runs over one-plus inning of work.
Washington Nationals: F
Playoff odds: 0.1%, down 0.9%. The franchise record is 110 losses, set back in the Expos' first season of 1969. It's not out of reach.
Best storyline: Umm, well, Juan Soto is drawing a lot of walks, which isn't exactly the stuff headline writers dream on. OK, Josh Bell is hitting over .300, has more walks than strikeouts and is an impending free agent, so if he keeps hitting he could be an attractive trade possibility to a team needing a first baseman or DH come July.
Mulligan: Alcides Escobar had a surprising 2021 season after being out of the majors since 2018, but it was pretty clearly a bad idea to count on him as the shortstop again at age 35. He hasn't hit (predictable), his fielding metrics are poor (predictable) and backup plan Lucius Fox went 0-for-his first 20. If only there had been a free-agent shortstop out there to sign.
Cincinnati Reds: F--
Playoff odds: 0.2%, down 9.4%. Yes, that's an F-minus-minus; we also debated a Z. This start, on top of a complete bummer of an offseason. On the bright side: Plenty of good seats available!
Best storyline: None. Nothing. Fans are wearing bags over their heads and bringing "Sell the team" signs to the ballpark. Cincinnati went 3-18 in April, matching the 2018 Reds for the worst record after 21 games since the 2003 Tigers went 2-19. That Tigers team finished 43-119, so it's not outrageous to think this team could challenge the 1962 Mets' modern record of 120 losses in a season. Joey Votto has struggled so much that he has written existential tweets comparing a slump to being in a labyrinth you can't escape from. May began with another loss, pushing the Reds to 3-19.
Mulligan: It's one thing when a team puts players in positions they're not good at to get more offense, but the Reds have been playing bad offensive players at positions they are also terrible at defensively. One recent lineup featured a lineup of Jake Fraley in center field, Colin Moran at third base, Kyle Farmer at shortstop and Brandon Drury at second base. These are dark days in Cincinnati, like a labyrinth with no exit.