![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knkb4xs6cy65p4txmb.jpg\" "\\"San")
<\/p>\nThe baseball season is young, and most of what has happened so far isn\u2019t real\u2014except for what is. With 10 days\u2019 worth of games in the scorebook, several fan bases have begun panicking about their teams\u2019 results thus far. What follows is an attempt to determine who is right to worry.<\/p>\n
Blue Jays<\/p>\n
Toronto hasn\u2019t actually played terribly so far\u2014save for Monday\u2019s 14\u20132 home loss to the Dodgers\u2014though you\u2019d like to see more sustained offense. The Blue Jays are 4\u20136, and entering Monday boasted the third best pitching staff and the ninth best lineup in the sport by WAR. <\/p>\n
Their problem is that they\u2019ve suffered the most significant injury of the young season: the loss of catcher Alejandro Kirk, who broke and dislocated his left thumb catching a foul tip on Friday. (The Dodgers are surely not thrilled that shortstop Mookie Betts went down with an oblique strain on Saturday, but they play in a much softer division, and they have the depth to absorb his absence.) Doctors have yet to determine how much time Kirk will miss, but depending on the extent of the injury, the team could be looking at six weeks. That\u2019s a problem, especially in the beastly American League East, because Kirk is perhaps the most important Blue Jay: a good-hitting catcher who was the second-most valuable defensive player in the sport last year. He had already shepherded the staff to a record 50 strikeouts in its first three games of the season, against the A\u2019s. With five starting pitchers (Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos, Shane Bieber, Bowden Francis, Cody Ponce and Trey Yesavage) on the injured list, the team will need a steady hand to guide their replacements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least for now, that won\u2019t be Kirk. Thirty-five-year-old backup Tyler Heineman will take over, and on Saturday the Blue Jays called up glove-first 25-year-old Brandon Valenzuela, whom they acquired from the Padres at the 2025 trade deadline for infielder Will Wagner. Those two probably can\u2019t get the ship moving faster, but they can keep it afloat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
VERDICT: Don\u2019t feel too blue<\/p>\n
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Catcher Freddy Fermin is one of three Padres regulars hitting below .200. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Padres<\/p>\n
Beating up on the Red Sox this weekend helped, but this has been a lousy 10 days for Padres fans. Ace Joe Musgrove, who had hoped to break camp with the team in his return from Tommy John surgery, was shut down from throwing early last month and has just resumed playing catch. No. 4 pitcher Walker Buehler has a 9.45 ERA. The ostensibly fearsome Padres lineup has still only hit five home runs this season, more than only the Giants (four) among teams and tied with three players. Slam Diego this is not: By WAR, this has been the worst position player group in the sport. The bullpen has been good, but they haven\u2019t had many leads to protect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one-thirtieth of the season. We\u2019ve got twenty-nine-thirtieths to go. I\u2019m excited for those twenty-nine-thirtieths,\u201d manager Craig Stammen told reporters last week after the Padres\u2019 fourth loss brought them to 2\u20134.<\/p>\n
And indeed, it\u2019s hard to imagine that a lineup that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado will continue to look so lost. Monday\u2019s 5\u20130 win over the Pirates put the Padres back at .500. Unfortunately, that lineup is the fourth oldest in the sport, and at some point the slumps will become harder to snap. And when you share a division with the Dodgers, you\u2019re probably looking at a wild card as your best-case scenario, which means a lot less margin for error. The Padres need some margin for error.<\/p>\n
VERDICT: Father Time comes for us all<\/p>\n
![\"Boston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knkdfhv5b44bavskcy.jpg\" "\\"Boston")
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Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story\u2019s 17 strikeouts are tied for the sixth-most in baseball. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Red Sox<\/p>\n
Right fielder Wilyer Abreu is the best player in baseball right now. These days, that\u2019s about the only bright spot for Boston, which opened the season 2\u20138, tied for the worst start in franchise history. <\/p>\n