Pitching/Batting Efficiencies: AL East

The Red Sox rebound from last year cannot be understated, but overreactions aren't good either. They lead the division with flair.

The Red Sox are wearing their cool yellow uniforms that are totally unlike anything in their traditional wardrobe, and the team is playing nothing like how they played a year ago. They rode an eight game winning streak into an eventual loss to the Twins in the series finale, but it's not appearing to be a fluke when you crunch the numbers. They're number one in baseball on offense, batting right around .300 as a team.

The Yankees are in disarray right now, but luckily there are 162 games in a season. With their rivals atop the AL East, they look to sneak up right behind and dethrone them, but New York will need much better than a #25 Batting Average to do so.

The Rays are at .500 and in second place, but their playing below both expectations and above what the numbers illuminate, and the latter is very important. If they can get back to being the powerhouse they were a year ago as winners of the pennant, that #22 in BA and ERA that they currently hold will be a fluke and they'll be looking to defend their title. Watch out.

Toronto and Baltimore are both a couple games below .500 and ahead of the Yankees. The Blue Jays spent big this offseason, but injuries have played a large role in this early season. They'd like to make the postseason again and are certainly ahead of the Orioles in trajectory.

Here's the graph.

Charting accurate as of games through April 17th.

Baseball is probably the hardest of the major sports to predict, and this division is all over the place relative to preseason assessments. That's the beauty of the sport though, and it's good to see a team we ranked as a bottomfeeder in the Red Sox to be performing this well. The reverse goes for the Yankees, but time will only tell if the Bronx Bombers can turn it around.