Inside the Odd Numbers of MLB’s First Week: The Good, the Bad, the Rookies

Rookies are running baseball early in the season while a number of big names are struggling.

Cleveland Guardians rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter is crushing the ball during his first week of MLB regular season action. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

The 2026 MLB season is here and through the first week we’ve already seen some wild stuff.

It’s not a stretch to say rookies are running MLB right now. A handful of players from our top 50 prospects list have already made an impact in the majors, while some of the game’s best top stars are scuffling and a few contenders have come out flat. And no, Joey Wiemer’s assault on MLB’s record books wasn’t on my bingo card.

We’re only a week into the new campaign, but some intriguing trends have emerged. Let’s look at some of the good, some of the bad and some of the rookies.

1.01 — Yankees team ERA through six games, best in baseball. New York has three shutouts, and the team’s pitchers have only allowed six runs, a WHIP of 0.84 and an opponents’ batting average of .174.

8.63 — White Sox team ERA through six games. Chicago’s staff has surrendered an incredible 52 runs (47 earned) in 49 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .319 off the squad’s pitchers, and they have a WHIP of 2.00. They’ve also walked 33 batters, which is the third most in the league.

0.7 — Joey Wiemer’s MLB-leading fWAR. The journeyman outfielder has found something with the Nationals and is hammering the baseball to open his fourth MLB season.

-0.4 — Bo Bichette’s MLB-worst fWAR. Things have not gone well for Bichette to open his tenure with the Mets. He’s 3-for-27 with three singles, three RBIs, eight strikeouts, one walk and a slash line of .111/.138/.111. That OPS of .249 is depressing. He’s already been booed by Mets fans.

0.6 — Sal Stewart’s fWAR through five games. Despite other rookies getting more headlines, Stewart has been the best hitter of the bunch. The Reds’ rookie first baseman is slashing .474/.615/.947 with two home runs, three doubles and seven walks against three strikeouts.

367 — Wiemer’s wRC+, best in baseball. It’s just a ridiculous number.

-89 — Caleb Durbin’s wRC+, the worst in baseball. Again, it’s an absurd number.

313 — Stewart’s wRC+, which is third in baseball and best among rookies.

1.741 — Wiemer’s OPS in five games, best in MLB. He’s 10-for-17 with two home runs, a triple and five walks.

.473 — Combined OPS of Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. The two American League MVP contenders from 2025 have started slowly. Judge has two home runs but is hitting .125 with a .160 on-base percentage and 11 strikeouts against one walk. Raleigh has one double and is hitting .160 with a .450 OPS, plus a league-high 15 strikeouts and only three walks.

1.562 — Sal Stewart’s OPS. If it isn’t clear, dude is raking.

.563 — On-base percentage for Astros star Yordan Alvarez. He is 10-for-24 with three home runs, three doubles, six walks and a slash line of .417/.563/.917.

.087 — On-base percentage for Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins through five games. He has opened the season 1-for-21 with a double and two RBIs. He has struck out eight times with no walks. His slash line is an abysmal .048/.087/.095.

.440 — OBP for Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle. After making the Opening Day roster, the infielder has done nothing but hit. He’s 8-for-22 with two doubles, a triple and three walks. He’s slashing .364/.440/.545. Not bad for a 21-year-old in his first MLB week.

98.9 mph — Average velocity on Yankees righty Cam Schlittler’s fastball, tops in baseball among qualified starting pitchers. Schlittler has been dominant to open the season. He’s 2–0 with a 0.00 ERA, 0.26 WHIP, 15 strikeouts and no walks in 11 2/3 innings.

91.9 mph — Average velocity on Aaron Nola’s fastball through one start, 76th in baseball among starting pitchers. Nola went five innings in his first start, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

99.2 mph — Average velocity on Pirates rookie Bubba Chandler’s fastball, which would lead MLB if he qualified. Chandler has made one start and allowed no hits, one unearned run and struck out six. Unfortunately, he did walk six.

6 — Earned runs allowed by Paul Skenes through 5 2/3 innings in 2026 (9.53 ERA). The reigning NL Cy Young winner didn’t get out of the first inning during his Opening Day start. He allowed five runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning in the Pirates’ loss to the Mets. Everything seemed to go wrong in the worst start of his career.

6 — Earned runs allowed by Paul Skenes in his final 41 innings of 2025 (1.32 ERA). Fair or not, that’s what everyone expects from Skenes.

1— Earned runs allowed by Phillies rookie Andrew Painter in his MLB debut. The massive Phillies rookie righty allowed one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings, while striking out eight and walking one.

5 — Home runs by Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers. He leads the big leagues. Langeliers hit 31 in 2025.

1 — Home run by the Detroit Tigers through six games. That’s last among MLB teams.

4 — Home runs by Guardians rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter through six games. DeLauter started hot and is slugging .818 with a 1.122 OPS on the season.

45 — Runs scored by the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers so far, tied for the best mark in the big leagues.

14 — Runs scored by the San Francisco Giants, the worst mark in MLB.

6 — Runs scored by Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt, best among rookies.

14 — Hits with runners in scoring position and two outs for the Astros, tops in baseball.

1 — Hits with RISP and two outs for the Reds, worst in baseball through six games.

---