3 Early Surprises of the 2024 MLB Season

(Photo : (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)) CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 24: Carlos Carrasco #59 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field on April 24, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The 2024 MLB season is in full swing.

With just a few weeks of regular season baseball being played, there are several big surprises in the league that have caught the attention of fans and media alike.

Here are 3 surprises from early into the 2024 MLB season as we close into just about a month of baseball action.

2024 MLB Season Early Surprises: AL Central Teams Off to a Hot Start

Coming out of the off-season, no one would have expected that the Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals would be the talk of the league.

The Guardians (17-7) are off to one of their best starts in franchise history since 1990, holding the league's best record at the moment.

They are just coming off of a five-game winning streak after finally succumbing to the Red Sox last night, but are getting things right back on track today with a win against Boston.

A manager change for the Guardians, going from Terry Francona to Stephen Vogt, has made the biggest difference for them this season.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals (15-10) are starting to find their groove after a disastrous 2023 season.

The Royals' big off-season moves, which included re-signing Bobby Witt Jr. and bringing in names like Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier, are starting to pay off as they have managed to squeeze out some big wins so far this season.

While Royals star Salvador Perez is having a strong MVP caliber season.

The Royals are currently behind the Guardians in the race for the No.1 spot in the AL Central. Still, anything could happen with tons of baseball left to be played.

2024 MLB Season Early Surprises: Houston, Do We Have a Problem?

The former World Series winning Houston Astros, the team that once had a stranglehold on the MLB, are now last in their division with a record of 7-18.

The entire team is banged up. Their star pitcher Justin Verlander has missed some time this season with a shoulder injury along with José Urquidy (forearm), who has also missed some time.

Framber Valdez has also been placed on the IL with Elbow Inflammation.

The Astros other pitchers, like Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly, have been less effective than in their previous seasons as well.

It's also worth mentioning that the Houston Astros got off to a slow start last season, but then later ended up winning the division. It's still early, and the Astros have a lot of time to turn it around.

2024 MLB Season Early Surprises: Stone Cold Texas Rangers

The 2023 World Series Champion, Texas Rangers, may have another ace up their sleeve.

Cody Bradford has shown up so far in his starts for the Rangers' this season, as Jacob DeGrom, Max Scherzer, and Tyler Mahle are missing some time.

Bradford has built off of a strong performance in the World Series last year, which proved to the Texas Rangers brass that he could be a potential franchise player for them moving forward.

In the games that he started, Cody Bradford managed a 1.40 ERA and surrendered four runs. He's issued just two walks and has held hitters to a strong 87.4 mph average exit velocity.