I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekends.

As the month of May winds down, I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the surprises in Major League Baseball so far. Can you believe we’re almost a third of the way into the season?

Anyway, here are my thoughts on a few of baseball’s “surprise” teams:

BALTIMORE ORIOLES (29-19, 1st-place tie in AL East)

• What I like? Very strong up the middle with Adam Jones in center, J.J. Hardy at shortstop and Matt Wieters behind the dish. Jones is a seven-year veteran who has never posted an OPS above .800. But this year, he already has 15 homers to go with a .308 average, a .944 OPS and his usual solid defense. Hardy has 10 homers already to go with Gold Glove defense. And Wieters, once dubbed “Mauer with power”, has been that and more. His average is lagging, but he has eight homers and controls the opponents running game very well.
• What I don’t like? The AL East. That division has never had room for one-year wonders, and I’m not totally convinced that Baltimore is like Tampa Bay and here to stay.
• What do I think? The Angels are surging in the AL West, so I still think that division gets a wild card, leaving one for the AL East. My gut tells me Tampa Bay and the Yankees will be playoff-bound once again.

CLEVELAND INDIANS (26-21, 1st place in AL Central)

• What I like? Everyone thought the AL Central this year had the Detroit Tigers and a cast of also-rans. But not so fast, my friend. The Tribe are up a half-game on the Chicago White Sox heading into Monday. Cleveland ranks in the top five in on-base percentage. But what I like about this team is its defense, especially in the infield with Jack Hannahan, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis and Casey Kotchman. The corner-infield defense kind of reminds me of Twins teams from 10 years ago.
• What I don’t like? Not a lot of punch on this team. Where does the offense come from? There’s certainly some good professional hitters that no what they’re doing at the plate like Kotchman, Cabrera, Johnny Damon and Travis Hafner. But other than Hafner when he’s healthy, not much scares you offensively. Young catcher Carlos Santana just landed on the DL.
• What do I think? I think I like many overrated the Tigers coming into the season, although there’s still plenty of time for that Motor City machine to get going offensively. But I’ve reached the point where I can see the Indians or White Sox challenging for the division title. 

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (29-18, 1st place in NL East)

• What I like? Some people saw the Nats coming this year (i.e. WDAY’s Dom Izzo). I thought it was a year early. But here they are, in first place on Memorial Day in a very tough NL East. The Nats lead the majors with a 2.93 ERA, out Philly-ing the Phillies in that regard. And they have some really nice offensive weapons with the emerging Bryce Harper to go with corner infielder sluggers Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche. And once Drew Storen gets healthy, they figure to have plenty of potent back-of-the-bullpen options.
• What I don’t like? This is new territory for the players and the organization. You have to remember that the last time the Nationals franchise made the postseason was 1981 when they were the Montreal Expos. I’m not worried about this team now, but what about the September grind.
• What do I think? The Phillies are over .500, but still in last place in this division. I think even when Ryan Howard and Chase Utley return, the Phillies will have their hands full. There could be a changing of the guard in the NL East, and I am finally starting to think the Nationals at the very least will get a wild-card spot.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (32-15, 1st place in NL West)

• What I like? This was the only team among the four listed that I thought would be in the position they’re in. But I realize it’s a surprise to many, especially considering the franchise’s fragile state before new ownership took over. But any time you have an NL Cy Young winner (Clayton Kershaw) and a guy that could have won the MVP (Matt Kemp) as building blocks, you’re off to a good start. Behind Kershaw and resurgent Chris Capuano, the Dodgers have the second-best ERA in baseball at 3.15. And they are third in baseball with a .272 batting average, buoyed by a bounce-back year from Andre Ethier and the outstanding play of catcher A.J. Ellis.
• What I don’t like? Kenley Jansen has been superb since taking over as the Dodgers closer after Javy Guerra flopped. But I think LA wouldn’t mind adding another bullpen arm to help build a bridge to Jansen, although Josh Lindblom has been fantastic as a set-up man. I’m nitpicking though. There’s really not much that I don’t like, especially once Kemp returns from the DL on Tuesday.
• What do I think? The Dodgers are here to say. They will win the division.

The departure of Jason Marquis and the addition of Cole DeVries to the Minnesota Twins rotation leaves me wondering: Who is left to start games for the Rochester Red Wings?

The Twins parted with the struggling Marquis on Monday and promoted former Gophers standout DeVries to take Marquis’ spot in the rotation. The veteran right-hander exits with an 8.47 ERA over seven starts.

With Marquis out of the picture, the Twins rotation no longer has five of the first six pitchers to make starts for the team this season. And incredibly, only one of those five missing starters is out of the rotation due to injury (Nick Blackburn). Their demotions – if you can call them that – are almost entirely performance-based.

The Twins rotation to open the season:

• RHP Carl Pavano (9 GS, 2-3, 4.91 ERA)
• LHP Francisco Liriano (9 G, 6 GS, 0-5, 8.31 ERA)
• RHP Anthony Swarzak (12 G, 3 GS, 0-3, 4.71 ERA)
• RHP Nick Blackburn (7 GS, 1-4, 8.37 ERA)
• RHP Liam Hendriks (4 GS, 0-2, 9.00 ERA)
• And eventually, RHP Jason Marquis (7 GS, 2-4, 8.47 ERA)

And the current rotation:

• Pavano
• LHP Scott Diamond (3 GS, 3-0, 1.40 ERA)
• RHP P.J. Walters (2 GS, 1-1, 3.65 ERA)
• RHP Cole DeVries (no stats)
• To be determined — won’t be needed until Saturday

And that’s how you end up with the worst starting pitchers’ ERA in baseball.

When Scott Diamond and P.J. Walters received major league call-ups in the last week, it likely wouldn’t have taken much for the duo to become fixtures in the Twins rotation for the rest of the season. After all, Twins starters entered Sunday’s game with a league-worst 6.57 ERA.

With quality starts quickly becoming an endangered species at Target Field, Diamond and Walters have provided a much-needed boost for the staff and much-needed rest for the bullpen.

Diamond threw seven shutout innings in a Twins’ 4-3 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. That came on the heels of Walters’ Twins debut on Saturday, in which he allowed just two runs on six hits in six innings.

Diamond’s 2012 Twins debut was on Tuesday, when he threw seven scoreless innings, yielding four hits and just a walk.

All told, Diamond and Walters’ stats with the Twins: 3 starts, 20 innings, 2 runs allowed (both earned), 15 hits and just one walk allowed.

Both pitchers had been throwing well at Triple-A Rochester, but I was pretty skeptical when Diamond in particular was called up. Both he and Walters are considered to be in the pitch-to-contact mold that had gotten the Twins into this mess of a season to begin with.

But so far, there has been little contact against the two starters. I know I’ll be watching to see how long they can keep it up.

An afternoon glance at the AL East standings shows the Tampa Bay Rays in a tie for first place. It’s hard to believe the day has arrived where that doesn’t surprise anyone.

Five years ago, the Tampa Bay then-Devil Rays lost 96 games and finished in last place in their division for the ninth time in their 10-year history. But the organizational turnaround started to yield on-field results in 2008, when the Rays improved their win total by 31, winning the AL East and advancing to the World Series.

Since 2008, they have finished above .500 each season and made the playoffs in three of those four seasons, despite having to compete with high-revenue juggernauts in Boston and New York for about 20 games apiece per season.

Jonah Keri documents the whole thing quite well in his book “The Extra 2%“, which is absolutely a must-read if you’re a baseball enthusiast like myself. Think of it as a modern-day “Moneyball”.

All of this brings me to a story published on the New York Times’ website yesterday about the Rays and their propensity to shift their defense against opposing hitters.

Very interesting story by Hunter Atkins making the rounds on Twitter today that really goes into detail about something I’ve been talking about all year: The Rays will shift against anyone. And I mean ANYONE.

The Rays have long been ahead of the curve when it comes to shifts. But it seems like they’re taking it to even greater lengths this year than in previous ones.

And I love it. I really do. They’ve done their homework, and baseball analysts and the standings alike show that what they’re doing is saving runs and winning more baseball games.

And while it may seem complicated to manage all of these shifts against all of these different hitters, the basis of it is simple. Manager Joe Maddon and the Rays – by shifting against stars and utility players alike – are outworking every other team in the game. It’s that kind of mentality that’s hard not to rally behind, even if the fans still aren’t showing up in droves to Tampa Bay games.

I’m always amused too when I see – as the story mentions – a guy like Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher call Maddon a “mad scientist.”

There’s nothing mad about it. Some might think what he’s doing is risky. But really, he’s simply managing based off the numbers and what a hitter’s tendency is. If anything, it’s a risk for a manager to ignore those facts and NOT shift.

Does it draw attention to Maddon? Of course. And most managers shy away from that. Attention can bring criticism, which is why managers ignore matchups and call on the closer every time there is a one-, two- or three-run lead. If the closer fails, the manager can just say, “Well, he’s my ninth-inning guy,” and then their butts are covered.

But I like Maddon because I think he has the full support of the organization and could care less about the attention. And that’s what makes the Rays a fun team to watch.

Nine hits in a four-game span. Can the Minnesota Twins be any worse? Apparently not.

The Elias Sports Bureau – via Star Tribune writer La Velle E. Neal’s blog – confirms that in the modern era (since 1900), no Major League Baseball team has ever had fewer hits in a four-game stretch than the Twins have had dating back to Tuesday.

To review:

• Tuesday vs. Angels (Jerome Williams): 3 hits
• Wednesday vs. Angels (Jered Weaver): 0 hits
• Friday vs. Mariners (Jason Vargas): 5 hits
• Saturday vs. Mariners (Felix Hernandez): 1 hit

Amazingly, the Twins actually won one of those games, which was Friday’s tilt at beautiful Safeco Field.

The Twins are calling up shortstop Brian Dozier and starter Scott Diamond, with Justin Morneau headed to the disabled list. Manager Ron Gardenhire plans to install Dozier immediately as his starting shortstop, hoping to give the offense a little “life” as he put it.

Dozier’s a very solid prospect in a system lacking big league-ready prospects. But don’t expect Dozier to be the next Hanley Ramirez or Nomar Garciaparra or anything.

But the offense could use some help. It’s slumping, although in its defense two of the last four games were against Cy Young-caliber starting pitchers.

And therein lies the problem for the Twins. They boast a decent offense when healthy, but they don’t have a single starting pitcher capable of doing to an opponent what Weaver and King Felix did to them.

So when the offense slumps – and it has to a historic level in the last few days – the Twins have almost no chance of winning. Again, it’s rather surprising that they pulled a victory out Friday all things considered.

If you’ve watched the Minnesota Twins play the last two nights, then you’re either an Angels fan or one tough cookie.

The Twins were no-hit last night by Jered Weaver and have had three hits total in the last two games.

Forum sports editor Kevin Schnepf sums up the Twins’ woes pretty well in this column he wrote in today’s paper.

The numbers don’t lie. Minnesota has the worst record in baseball, the worst ERA, the fewest strikeouts, etc. The offense ranks among the bottom third in the majors. And the defense … well, I’d argue the Twins lack a single player defensively that’s above average.

Johan Santana led the 2002 Twins in strikeouts. Associated Press

Go back 10 years to the 2002 Twins, who broke the team’s 11-year postseason drought with an AL Central title and eventual berth in the ALCS. Like this year’s team, the 2002 Twins had a pitch-to-contact staff too (although obviously a more superior one). Johan Santana led that team in strikeouts with 137, despite pitching only 108 1/3 innings and only serving as a part-time starter.

Among the many differences between the two, what was the biggest? I’d say defense and athleticism. The ’02 Twins could pick it, with Corey Koskie at third, Cristian Guzman at shortstop, Dougie Mientkiewicz at first. Then in the outfield, Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones provided the range.

But back to the present. In 2012, I see a team with hopeless pitching and no signs of it letting up. After all, if the Twins chose to jettison Nick Blackburn or Francisco Liriano to the bullpen, who is going to take their places? And don’t give me the line about Scott Diamond having a nice year in Rochester. Is there anyone that can be expected to make any sort of an impact on the horizon at either Triple-A or Double-A?

Even in the lower levels of the minors, the Twins have hope, but it comes in the form of position players. That’s all fine and dandy, but this is a pitching era, and somehow the Twins have missed the boat entirely in pitching development.

The state of the organization screams rebuilding mode, but this is where Joe Mauer and his eight-year, $184 million contract enter the picture. The Twins could seemingly try to rebuild for, say, 2015 with the hopes that guys like Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales and Miguel Sano are ready to make a big impact in the big leagues. Then the club could spend money on pitching rather than worrying about the offense. Or trade a guy like Hicks now for a minor league power arm.

So ask yourself these two questions:

1. Can a team rebuild while simultaneously paying a player $23 million per year, essentially wasting the prime of his career?
2. And if you think they can’t, is there any way in the short term for the Twins to dig their way out of this hole and compete again?

I think there’s a better chance of No. 1 working than No. 2 ever happening.