Part 1 (Of a 2 part series) The beginning of the MLB season always brings surprises from unlikely sources.
Unexpected batting averages, homerun counts and RBI totals leave us scratching our heads as they come from the no-name player.
Below a few of these big surprises are highlights.
Aaron Hill (TOR): Aaron Hill has hit 9 homeruns as of May 12th, which is amongst the top tier of homerun totals at this stage of the year.
Hill hit a total of 17 in '07, which some considered a fluke.
After an injury filled '08, Hill has arrived in 2009 with something to prove - his power and hitting are both very real.
Hill is also amongst the major league leaders in RBI with 30.
Adam Jones (BAL): I had called for a bigger year from Adam Jones this season batting between Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis, but I did not expect this incredible start.
Jones has bypassed good year and is apparently shooting for a super-star year.
He leads the MLB in runs with 35, and has a .
363 average through 124 at bats.
Jones has pretty much done it all - 8 homeruns, 25 RBI, 3 steals.
Some thought this would be his break out year and he is breaking out in a big way.
Zach Greinke (KC): We all knew Greinke had the potential to be a big league ace if he could put all the pieces together.
Thus far he has, and has pitched in a league of his own.
Through mid May, he is 6-1 with a minuscule ERA of 0.
51.
To put that number in perspective Greinke has only allowed 3 earned runs in the 53 innings he has pitched.
Remarkable.
He also has struck out 59 batters while only walking 8.
In the 7 games he has started, he has complete games in 4 of them.
It is safe to say that Greinke is a Cy Young award candidate and could easily win it if he somehow keeps this up all season long.