For now, we’re left to take stock of what has happened thus far with the caveat that we’re looking at a limited sample. Even so, over just a few weeks of play, some big themes have emerged that will be worth monitoring for the rest of the year.Here are six big takeaways one-sixth of the way through the regular season:The NL Central is making a statementMaybe we shouldn’t be surprised; this division did send three teams to the postseason last year, including the Brewers with the best record in baseball. But the degree to which the NL Central has separated itself in April has been stunning.

This has partially been the product of a wonky early schedule that has featured hardly any intradivision games, thus limiting the chances for these teams to beat up on one another. Instead, all five clubs have seized their opportunities to prove themselves against the rest of the league, resulting in the NL Central accounting for five of the 10 best records in MLB at this point. Here’s a look at each division’s combined record:AL East: 60-63AL Central: 58-69AL West: 59-69NL East: 58-69NL Central: 73-50NL West: 69-57The Cubs and Reds are tied at the top at 16-9, though they’ve taken vastly different routes to first place.

The Cubs are riding a nine-game winning streak, powered by an offense that is fully healthy and starting to fire on all cylinders. Chicago is missing a ton of key arms due to injury, but its elite defense and strong showings from Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera have ensured reliable run prevention nevertheless. The Cubs’ plus-43 run differential ranks third in MLB.

The Reds, meanwhile, feature a negative run differential at minus-2, but their pitching has been stellar, even without an inning from ace Hunter Greene. Elly De La Cruz and rookie Sal Stewart have formed one of the best 1-2 position-player punches around, but the rest of the offense has been abysmal and will need to improve if the Reds want to remain in the mix atop this division. Next in line are the Cardinals, a team many thought would be rebuilding this year but one that thus far has proven rather competent, with an exciting young position-player group led by one of baseball’s biggest breakout stars, Jordan Walker.

The Pirates aren’t far behind St. Louis, and they’ve looked like the better team, leaning on their terrific pitching staff led by Paul Skenes and a revamped lineup that has provided far more consistent run support than a year ago. Last year’s champs, the Brewers, are currently bringing up the rear, though they’re the only last-place team in baseball with a winning record, at 13-11.

The Brewers are still waiting for Jackson Chourio to return from injury, and their bullpen has been uncharacteristically shaky in the early going.Can a good team in the American League please stand up?Another quirk of the standings through one month — and the flip side of the NL Central’s dominance — has been the complete lack of a standout team in the American League outside of the New York Yankees, who sit at 16-9 with a plus-37 run differential, the fourth-best mark in baseball behind the Braves, Dodgers and Cubs. The National League accounts for eight of the nine best records in baseball through one month of play.

Of course, that’s not to say all the bad teams are in the American League: The six worst records in MLB are an even split of AL (Astros, Red Sox, Royals) and NL (Rockies, Mets, Phillies) teams.For the most part, though, much of the American League has spent the first month floating in the messy middle, with a lot of the clubs that were expected to be contenders off to uneven starts. That group includes last year’s ALCS participants, Toronto and Seattle, each sitting multiple games below .500 as a brutal string of injuries has hampered the Blue Jays and the Mariners’ biggest bats have only recently started to look like themselves after an ice-cold start.

Cleveland and Detroit, both postseason teams last year, have each been solid, but the Tigers had to dig themselves out of a 4-9 hole to get to where they are now, and the Guardians haven’t won more than two games in a row, limiting their ability to climb the standings. And then Boston, the last 2025 AL playoff team, is a total mess at the moment.It seems like the Yankees are pretty good — that much we know. But after that?

We’re still waiting to see which teams step up as convincing contenders. Perhaps Baltimore or Texas can break into that discussion, with the Rangers in position to do so considering the slow start of the AL West. But at this point, we’re welcoming any and all nominations.2022 was a long time agoFour years ago, the Phillies and Astros met i