Least Exciting Teams

A quick update on the least exciting teams.

So far the Cardinals, Angels and Cubs have been pretty boring. Between the three teams, only the Cardinals have seen an extra inning game, with the Cardinals 10 inning battle against the Reds on 17-Apr making the Week 2 top 10 list. Matt Carpenter won this game for the Cardinals in the 10th with a walk off sacrifice fly off of Bill Bray. This is probably the least exciting way to win a game, but not because of the action, but the situation. With a runner on third and one out, the Cardinals had an 83% chance to win this game. The sacrifice fly was important, but less so than Zack Cozart driving in Devin Mesoraco off of  Mitchell Boggs to tie the game 1-1 in the 8th. That said, the game ranks highly.

What makes the Cardinals, Angels, and Cubs stand out is that number of truly boring games they’ve played. The Cardinals have had three games (two against the Cubs) where the game is effectively over by the 3rd inning:

15-Apr, 3rd inning, up 6-0 (vs. Cubs)

13-Apr, 3rd inning, down 0-8 (vs. Cubs)

18-Apr, 3rd inning, up 5-0 (vs. Reds)

Another four games for the Cardinals (4-Apr – opening day, 6-Apr, 8-Apr, 9-Apr) have significantly boring as well. Not that the Cardinals are complaining: in each game they’ve put up runs early and their starters and bullpen have cruised to an easy victory. The Cardinals are 6-1 in these boring games so far. It appears the defending World Champions are pretty good at putting their opponents away early and reducing the drama.