MLB

Just over one month into the 2025 MLB season, the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles are on opposite ends of the vibes spectrum, and people within the league have taken notice.

In a poll of 20 front-office executives conducted by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, the Giants were voted as the biggest surprise so far this season and the Orioles were deemed to be the biggest disappointment.

San Francisco received eight votes, finishing ahead of the Athletics (five), Chicago Cubs (three) and San Diego Padres (three). The New York Yankees were the only other team to receive a vote.

The Giants, who won between 79 and 81 games in each of the past three seasons, are currently tied with the Cubs for the fourth-best record in the NL (19-13).

"They’re playing really well in a tough division," one American League executive told Feinsand. "The pitching has exceeded expectations, and Jung Hoo Lee has been a catalyst."

Interestingly, the Giants have done this despite their big free-agent acquisition, Willy Adames, being voted the biggest disappointment among players so far. He is hitting .218/.298/.306 and is tied for 151st out of 164 qualified position players in FanGraphs' wins above replacement (minus-0.4) after signing a seven-year, $182 million contract in December.

The driving force of San Francisco's success thus far has been pitching. The staff ranks fourth in the NL in ERA (3.64) and fWAR (3.9).

Pitching is also a big reason the Orioles are atop the most disappointing list and at the bottom of the AL East with a 12-18 record. Their 5.47 team ERA ranks ahead of only the Miami Marlins (5.89).

The Orioles were overwhelmingly the top choice in the most disappointing category. They received 12 votes, nine more than any other team.

One NL executive explained voting for the Orioles:

"I thought the lineup would carry them, even if the rotation was just OK. But injuries to the rotation and underperformance by most of the remaining starters have been too much to overcome, especially given that a number of their position players—[Gunnar] Henderson, [Heston] Kjerstad, [Tyler] O’Neill and [Adley] Rutschman have struggled as well."

Baltimore is one of three teams with a starting staff that has a collective ERA over 6.00, along with the Marlins and Colorado Rockies. The Rockies (6-25) are on pace to be worse than the 2024 Chicago White Sox.

Compounding the pitching issues is that Gunnar Henderson, Tyler O'Neill and Heston Kjerstad have all been below-average hitters by OPS+ so far. Adley Rutschman and Jackson Holliday are over the average threshold, but just barely.

The Orioles were widely criticized for not being aggressive to add pitching in the offseason, especially after losing key contributors like Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander.

Baltimore's biggest pitching expenditure was a one-year, $15 million deal for 41-year-old Charlie Morton. He has more earned runs allowed (28) than innings pitched (26.2) so far this season.

One benefit of the MLB season being 162 games is that the standings now don't necessarily indicate what they will be in September.

On this date last year, for instance, only three of the six eventual division winners were in first place. The Houston Astros were tied for the second-worst record in the AL, ahead of only the White Sox. They went 77-53 the rest of the way to win the division.

New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, the team announced Friday.

The move is retroactive to Wednesday. Infielder Jorbit Vivas was recalled from recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Chisholm's place on the roster.

Chisholm last played on Tuesday. He left the Yankees' 15-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles early after appearing uncomfortable during his first-inning at-bat.

He later said he felt the injury "a little bit" while swinging at a foul ball on the first pitch he faced.

Chisholm went on to record an extra-base hit that turned into a triple thanks to an Orioles error. He was replaced by a pinch runner at third base.

The Yankees infielder said after the game that his coaches had recommended the early exit. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch noted that Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas was the one who signaled to take out Chisholm.

"No time to risk it. It's April, we've still got a lot of baseball left, I'd rather take two to three days off than six weeks," Chisholm said on Tuesday night, per YES Network.

That timeline apparently changed after Chisholm underwent an MRI, which the Yankees had previously indicated was scheduled for Thursday.

Chisholm has struggled to find consistency at the plate so far this season, batting .181 with a .714 OPS through 30 games. The Yankees will hope he can record more regularly competitive at-bats when he returns from injury.

Chisholm's injury could lead to an MLB debut for Vivas, who was acquired by the Yankees as part of a December 2023 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has played in 601 career minor league games with no MLB appearances, although this is his third call-up to the majors.

Vivas is batting .319 with a .862 OPS through 26 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre so far this season.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is headed to the injured list again, but there appears to be some optimism he won't miss an extended stretch.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters after Thursday's loss to the Detroit Tigers that the 33-year-old will be placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his left knee.

"He has a bone bruise so we’re going to put him on the IL," Washington said. "It's not significant. But he needs rest."

Trout also told reporters Friday that he's "not concerned at all" about missing an extended time because of the injury and that he's "feeling a lot better."

"Talking to the doctors, I've had two meniscuses shaved down, and I just hit it perfectly on the bag," Trout said of his latest injury. "Both bones hit each other, and I bruised both of them."

The injury occurred when Trout extended his leg trying to beat a throw to first base on a groundball in the third inning of Wednesday's 9-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

He stayed in the game until the top of the fourth when Jo Adell pinch-hit for him. The three-time AL MVP explained after the loss it was a "weird feeling" when it initially happened, but started to feel better after receiving treatment.

"When it happened, I knew it was like a weird feeling, but now after getting treatment and stuff, it actually feels a little better," Trout said. "Hopefully it just was little scar tissue breaking up, or a little jammed."

Trout tore the meniscus in his left knee last season and required two surgeries, with the second one in August officially ending his 2024 campaign.

Tests before Thursday's game showed no structural damage in his knee. Injuries have become a persistent issue for the 11-time All-Star in recent years. He played a total of 266 out of a possible 648 games from 2021 to 2024.

Trout had been healthy to start 2025 before his knee issue. He played in each of the Angels' first 29 games before sitting out Thursday.

Despite being in the lineup for the first month of the season, he was still trying to find his timing and rhythm in the batter's box. He is only hitting .179/.264/.462, but his nine homers are tied for the fourth-most in MLB.

The Angels will have to call someone up when he is officially placed on the IL. Jorge Soler will likely fill in as their primary right fielder until Trout can return to the lineup.

Los Angeles (12-18) has lost a season-high six straight games and fallen into last place in the AL West.