Who Looks Legit?

The MLB regular season is already creeping in on two full months and there are some surprise teams emerging. How are these teams looking so legit?

• Minnesota Twins: The best record in the majors belongs to... the 33-16 Minnesota Twins, who also have the best offense in the majors (289 runs scored this season). In fact, the Twins are the only team aside from the 2005 Texas Rangers who have had multiple games of eight or more home runs this season. The T-Wins have also been dominant road warriors with an 18-8 road record while batting .292 as a team and averaging 6.96 runs a game on the road, best in the majors.
• Texas Rangers: Sitting behind the Twins in the 'best offense in the majors' category are the Texas Rangers, who are tied for second with the Seattle Mariners in runs scored this season (271). Joey Gallo has hit nothing but dingers (literally), with 15 of his 43 hits this season being home runs. Other surprising contributors for the Rangers include Hunter Pence (.312 BA, .651 SLG, .364 OBP, 1.015 OPS, ten home runs, 31 RBIs), Asdrubal Cabrera (nine home runs, 26 RBIs), and Elvis Andrus (.325 BA, .373 OBP, .882 OPS, eight stolen bases, 26 RBIs). The Rangers currently sit 1.5 games back of Boston for the second wild card spot in the American League.
  
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Sitting one game back of the Atlanta Braves in the battle for the second wild card spot in the National League are the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have seen their young pitching rise to the occasion. Josh Bell (.339 BA, .718 SLG, .408 OBP, 1.125 OPS, 16 home runs, 47 RBIs) has been an All-Star for the Pirates as well. One worrying indication of the Pirates not having staying power is their paltry run differential; Pittsburgh's -42 in this category this season. That may indicate that the Pirates will eventually drop back to the norm. Stay tuned, though.