[dspainjr]

You cannot deny what Charlie is doing to pitchers in the first few weeks. Is it the beard, or did he get some hitting tips from Todd before he retired? Would love to hear what others think about what he is doing in this young season.

[jaredhuizenga]

I put virtually zero stock into what somebody does during the first few weeks of a season - with either good or bad numbers. If mid-May rolls around and some of these guys are still putting up bigger than expected numbers, then I start paying attention.

But, honestly, does anyone honestly expect Chris Colabello to lead the A.L. in RBIs, Dee Gordon to hit .400 or Miguel Cabrera to not be in the Top-5 in all of the triple crown categories at the end of the year?

Too many players have gotten off to hot starts over the years to take them real seriously yet. I'll be interested to see what happens to some of these guys once it warms up and the pitchers get stretched out a little more, once more of a book is developed on guys that are getting their first shots at regular playing time and how they adjust to playing everyday and the "grind" of the 162-game schedule (isn't that what they always talk about?).

In Blackmon's case, "the experts" always like to point a player's age 27 season as the start of their prime years - or at least it used to be. So maybe he's just a late bloomer that's coming into his own as he's matured and is getting more regular at-bats. Maybe he's benefiting from playing in a hitter-friendly environment (it might not be the Coors Field of old, but ask Mr. Cuddyer if it's more conducive to hitting than Target Field). Or maybe he's combing both of those factors with a bit of luck for a .477 babip - nearly .200 points over league average.

Having said all of that, they are fun stories for however long they last. Before we know it we'll probably be talking about Cabrera's traditional stats vs. Trout's sabermetric stats, which is more important in terms of MVP voting and which contract was better for their respective team.

[dspainjr]

Thanks for the insight Jared. We shall see come mid May, my guess is he will still be batting at least .350

[thepointguard_10]

It's definitely the beard