Championships are not won and lost early in the season, but strong starts often set the foundation for sustained success. With the Tokyo Series coming up in a few days and traditional Opening Day less than two weeks away, BetMassachusetts.com wanted to examine how AL East teams have started the season lately.
Utilizing Baseball-Reference.com, our Massachusetts sports betting experts gathered statistics for how each team in the division has fared in March and April games over the last three seasons. This is what they discovered.
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Play it smart from the start! Live Chat @ http://GameSenseMA.comRanking The AL East by Hot Starts
Rank | Team | Record | Runs Scored | Runs Allowed |
T-1 | New York Yankees | 49-32 | 366 runs | 286 runs |
T-1 | Tampa Bay Rays | 49-32 | 401 runs | 332 runs |
3 | Toronto Blue Jays | 47-34 | 331 runs | 343 runs |
4 | Baltimore Orioles | 45-33 | 366 runs | 329 runs |
5 | Boston Red Sox | 41-40 | 382 runs | 338 runs |
Annually one of MLB’s best divisions, it should not be shocking every AL East team holds a winning record in March and April since 2022. The Boston Red Sox are the only club in the division with an overall losing record over that span and they went just 12 games under .500 during those three years.
All four other squads own at least a .525 overall winning percentage since 2022, with the Orioles and Yankees tied for the fourth best record in the league since then, behind only the Dodgers, Braves and Astros. However, all five AL East teams possess a higher March and April winning percentage than overall winning percentage over the last three seasons.
The Rays have outperformed their rest of season numbers in March and April more than any other team in the division, with their early season winning percentage sitting at .605 compared to a .545 overall mark. The Rays lead the AL East in runs scored in March and April since 2022, while the Yankees have allowed the fewest March and April runs in the division over that stretch.
Interestingly, the Blue Jays ran a .580 March and April winning percentage over the past three seasons while finishing that time with a -12 run differential. That is 5.5 percentage points higher than their overall winning percentage since 2022, despite a +99 overall run differential.
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One thing that could prevent all five teams from finishing with a winning record again this March and April is how the schedule shakes out. While teams now play fewer divisional games since the league balanced the schedule before the 2023 season, AL East teams face an inordinate number of those games early in the season this year. Each AL East team will play at least 10 divisional games this March and April, with the Blue Jays playing as many as 16 of their 31 early season contests against divisional opponents (meanwhile, Toronto will not play a single divisional game in August. Go figure.)
All these early season divisional matchups should go a long way in determining the AL East’s balance of power as each team comes into the year with dreams of contention but a number of question marks looming over them. Per DraftKings, every team in the division’s over/under win total sits between 78.5 and 89.5, the second smallest range in the league behind the NL Central.
After winning the division title last season, the Yankees are once again favored to claim the AL East crown at +135 according to Massachusetts DraftKings Sportsbook. The Yankees also own the lowest odds in the AL to make the playoffs at -390, though the Orioles and Red Sox sit below even money in that market as well at -175 and -105 respectively.
Hope is here. Call (800) 327-5050 or http://gamblinghelplinema.orgPlay it smart from the start! Live Chat @ http://GameSenseMA.comAuthor
Josh Markowitz is a freelance writer for BetMassachusetts.com. He is a lifelong sports fan with an emphasis on basketball, football, baseball, and the scouting/evaluation process. A graduate of Elon University's School of Communications, Josh also has experience in television production.
