No Doubting Teixiera

Mark Teixiera was always known for getting off to a late start in the baseball season, however this season, when he was not performing like he typically did in past seasons, some were skeptical. Teixiera was right on target defensively, but he was not delivering offensively. Kevin Long, Yankee hitting coach was very positive about Teixiera and knew that he would start delivering soon thereafter, similar to A-Rod.

"While last year, 39 home runs but a low batting average wasn't good enough, I think I'd rather hit 39 home runs than 20 or 15. I'd rather drive in 111 runs than 80. I'm going to be more aggressive." -Mark Teixiera (Yankees.com)

A bronchial ailment was also the cause of Teixiera not playing up to his potential. It had been ailing him for at least seven weeks, soon after the start of the season in April. Joe Girardi gave him two days off in order to get him fully healed which seemed to do the trick!

Teixiera came back in full force in the Yankees series against the Oakland A's. In the second game against Oakland on May 26th, Teixiera hit 2 monster home runs to give the Yankees a 9-2 win. The Yanks went on to sweep the A's. Just like Long thought, Teixiera overcame the short slump that he was in and will hopefully continue to play great.

Soaring or Plummeting?

The Baltimore Orioles have thrown everyone for a loop early this season. Baltimore, who ended the 2011 season with a 69-93 record, at the bottom of the AL East is currently 18-9 and in first place in the AL East with a four game winning streak. What are the contributing factors? Well, the Orioles have a fantastic bullpen. Not only is it deep, but it's strong too. They have a great starting rotation which makes having a deep bullpen even better.

Jim Johnson has eight saves this season thus far and has not given up one run this season.

The Orioles also have great defense as well, with Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. Matt Wieters could potentially be the best catcher in baseball right now, leading the Orioles in home runs (he has seven already this season), 17 RBI's, and .391 for on base percentage.

They recently won 2-3 of their series against the Red Sox and 2-3 against the Yankees, but were just swept by the Rangers.

The Rangers are spectacular right now. They are leading the AL West at 20-10. Their hitting is spectacular, as well as their defense, and pitching. The Rangers have it all right now. Can they maintain their great start to the season? Time will tell!