EDITOR’S NOTE: Boyd Bergquist was the sports director at KETS-TV in East Tree Stump, Nebraska for almost 40 years.  Known across the Husker state as the voice of the Boy’s High School Basketball Tournament, Bergquist was a four-time winner of the Marv J. Butz “Golden Cob” Award For Excellence In Nebraska Broadcast Journalism. That background, along with his quick if not cliché-riddled wit and love of single-malt scotch makes Bergquist a perfect fit to be our “Question” guy.

Baseball season is like a long horse race, which is why I like to break it down in four parts.  We’ve already seen the start, and later in the season we will revisit on Independence Day which marks the half-way point and Labor Day which is all about heading into the home stretch.  But today is all about Memorial Day, which marks the “quarter turn.” So today we will look at my initial categorizations of all 30 major-league baseball teams and compare that to where they are a quarter of the way into this long race.

If you recall, I’m not about the usual “power ranking” stuff.  Instead, I’ started this season by breaking down all 30 major league squads into six easy-to-understand groups based on what I thought these teams could realistically expect in 2023. Those original six categories were as follows.

• Ready To Win Right Now: These are teams which are ready to climb the mountain right now…no ifs, ands or buts.
• There’s Just One Thing Missing: Did you ever almost complete a jigsaw puzzle, but the three pieces you have remaining don’t fit the holes you have left? Welcome to the stories of these teams.
• Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Welcome to a collection of clubs who almost have the goods to win on their own; but anything is possible if they get more than one “lucky break.”
• At Least They Don’t Suck: Do I really need to explain this one?
• Why Wait For Next Year? One way or another, these teams need to make a decision about the future.
• It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: Everybody has hope on Opening Day, but some lose it far faster than others.

Now that the race is underway, at the “quarter turn” I now have six new categories which again should be fairly self-explanatory.

Just As We Expected

Atlanta Braves – Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now: It’s waaaay too early to pencil in the Braves’ sixth straight division title, but it’s certainly the time to ask who in the NL East can catch them?

Toronto Blue Jays – Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now: It’s exceptionally rare to see in this spot a team which spent the better part of the season to date foundering to the depths of the AL East. Even then, they are above .500 and very much in the race. Not to mention, the front-end of the Blue Jays’ schedule was road-game heavy, and a mid-May sweep of the Braves was a statement of how dangerous this team can bein the Rogers Centre…and all of this after they had a complete disaster of a week.

Tampa Rays – Original Rating: Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Everything went right for the Rays, but there’s some nasty-looking clouds on the horizon. The Rays pitching staff has been destroyed by injuries, and from sheer overuse by necessity, the bullpen is showing August-level wear and tear in May.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing: Save for the upstart Diamondbacks, nobody in the NL West has exploited the fact a large part of the pitching staff the Dodgers envisioned in the spring is now on the injured list.

Minnesota Twins – Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck: Is it just me, or is manager Rocco Baldelli gunning for Bobby Cox’s all-time ejections record? He’s certainly giving the Yankees’ Aaron Boone a run for the money for this season’s title. Oh, by the way, the Twins are setting the pace in the dreary AL Central; tune back in August when this team gags on their lead (again).

Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left

Pittsburgh Pirates – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: Bucs starting pitcher Mitch Keller is clearly having a “breakout” year with a sub-2.50 ERA and a killer strikeout-to-walk ratio. That’s to go with a team of experienced veterans and at least two budding superstars and one fully-bloomed that the Pirates actually signed to a long-term deal. In terms of more things which are waaaay too early, and despite the fact the Pirates are already coming back to the pack, pencil in these Pittsburgh Pirates as the NL Central champions in 2026.

Texas Rangers – Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck: Guess what? Managers matter, and even Stevie Wonder can see the difference Bruce Bochy has made skippering the Rangers.

Baltimore Orioles – Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck: It’s no coincidence the Orioles and the Pirates are two of this year’s “surprise stories,” and those two teams are in the top three for stolen bases. Say what you will about the new rule changes in baseball, but there’s no denying the stolen base is back as an offensive weapon…and I for one applaud that.

Miami Marlins – Original Rating: Why Wait for Next Year?: Memorial Day finds the Marlins hovering around the .500 mark, but does anybody really think that’s going to last? Past history and their current trend says expect another trade deadline which sees the Marlins as sellers.

Arizona Diamondbacks – Original Rating: Why Wait for Next Year?: How long this lasts is anybody’s guess. They’ve had a recent streak where they dropped seven out of nine, but then bounced right back. In any event, anybody who wants to win the NL west ignores this team at their own peril.

So Far, So Good

Detroit Tigers – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be Long Summer: Try this math…the Tigers a 2-14 against the AL East, they sport a -53 run differential, and are only a game over .500 at home (going into Sunday’s games), and yet Detroit finds themselves in second place in the AL Central. Something’s working, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is, nor do I know how long it will last. Maybe it’s just the fact that as a whole, the AL Central is weak.

Boston Red Sox – Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck: I thought this team had some troubling flaws at the start of the season, and those are starting to show. Until now, the Red Sox have been making it work, but they are starting to run out of “cheat codes.” Corey Kluber is not proving to be the savior of the rotation; his ERA is slowly ballooning to 7-plus territory, and their best alternative is Nick Pivetta (gasp). If this team is still above .500 on Independence Day, I’ll go full Joey Chestnut and eat 50 Fenway Franks.

Chicago Cubs – Original Rating: Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Well, more things went right for the North Siders than didn’t. Despite the fact that since April 22nd, only the Oakland A’s has a worse record in the majors, and despite the fac they are in last place, things really could have been far worse. But then the Cubs started to figure out that they were wasting Christopher Morel in the minors and the Eric Hosmer thing wasn’t working. Once they brought up Morel and top-flight prospect Matt Mervis, there’s been a spark at Wrigley. Granted, they are still in last place, and the Cody Bellinger injury doesn’t help, but this team shouldn’t stay in the NL Central cellar for long.

Washington Nationals – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: There’s really not a nice way to say this, but exceeding expectations isn’t hard when nobody was expecting much to begin with. This team has a boatload of young talent from the Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, and Juan Soto deals, so the future should be bright in Washington.

The Good News: Jeimer Candelario is certainly in the discussion for who is the hottest hitter in baseball right now. He’s just coming off a 16-for-28 stretch which translates to a .571 batting average with four doubles, a triple, and two dingers.

The Bad News: He’s a free agent after this season. Will the Nats move him? Only time will tell.

It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet

New York Yankees – Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing: Yeah, the Bombers have had a bumbly-stumbly start, but they have avoided the “Better Figure It Out Quick” category with their recent uptick largely fueled by the insanely-hot Arron Judge. Speaking of figuring it out, when are opposing pitchers going to realize that pitching to the defending AL MVP is not a great idea right now?

Philadelphia Phillies – Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now: The Phils were the poster-child for “bad start,” but now they seem to be trying to out-mercurial the Mets by being the streakiest team in baseball throughout May. Trea Turner looks to be coming out of his early doldrums. That along with the return of Bryce Harper means things can only get better in the City of Brotherly Love.

Cleveland Guardians – Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing: One has to revisit history to see an offense as weak as that of the Guardians. In a recent three-game series with the Tigers, Cleveland only managed two measly runs, and got shut-out twice by a team with a 4.51 ERA and has the third-worst run differential in all of baseball. We haven’t seen offense that weak since 1939 when Polish Army took on a German armored juggernaut with half-drunk horse cavalry.

Houston Astros – Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now: If only I could hire Aaron Rodgers to tell Astros fans what he once said to the faithful in Green Bay: “R-E-L-A-X.” Like I always say, you’re the champ until somebody beats you, and the upstart Rangers haven’t won this division yet, and the Astros are just too dangerous.

Seattle Mariners – Original Rating: Need Some Things To Go Their Way: One thing that has clearly not gone the M’s way is the “sophomore slump” of Julio Rodriguez.

Better Figure It Out Quick

St. Louis Cardinals – Original Rating: There’s Just One Thing Missing: Despite digging themselves into a hole deeper than a nuclear missile silo, the Cardinals are still in the race. Having an 11-3 stretch in May certainly helped, but not nearly as much as the fact nobody else in the NL Central did anything in May. In other words, the Cards may very well have figured it out already.

San Diego Padres – Original Rating: Ready To Win Right Now: Here’s the definition of needing to figure something out. How the hell did this team which is loaded top-to-bottom go through a fourteen-game stretch in which they only won 3 games…all of which started by Michael Wacha. Say what you will, that ain’t good.

Milwaukee Brewers – Original Rating: Need Some things To Go Their Way: There’s a reason why I said at the start of this season this team simply never seems to get it’s shit together. Yeah, the Pirates had an amazing start, but that seems to be waning, The Cubs aren’t ready to contend, the Reds are ghastly, and the Cardinals did a face-plant out of the gate. Given such a golden opportunity to seize their division, the Brewers had a stretch in May where they went 6-12. This team is “Fool’s Gold,” and will continue to be until further notice.

Los Angeles Angels – Original Rating: Why Wait for Next Year?: Yeah, so they’ve had a good May. Forget all that; they’re not going to beat the Astros. It’s time to fish or cut bait on the Shohei Ohtani situation. Trade the guy or find a way sign him. In the immortal words of Metallica, Nothing Else Matters.

San Francisco Giants – Original Rating: At Least They Don’t Suck: Yeah, so they’ve had a good May. Forget all that; they’re not going to beat the Dodgers or the Padres. It’s time to get the Shohei Ohtani deal done with the Angels; whatever it takes. Even if you costs you half the Triple-A roster, two major-leaguers and a cable car, Shohei is the show-piece for a future which could rival the 2010s as a hey-day for the Giants. In the immortal words of the guys who do the National Anthem at your ballpark at least three times a year, Nothing Else Matters.

It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

Chicago White Sox – Original Rating: Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Some say there are signs of life on the South Side of Chicago because the Mighty Whiteys have gone 8-4 over the last two weeks. I understand this team should be way better than they are showing, but even that recent medium-warm streak only begins to to dig them out of the hole they made for themselves by notching a pathetic 9-21 record in their first 30 games. I don’t buy them, but the fact is they are only 6 games back in the weak-ass AL Central.

Cincinnati Reds – Original Rating: Why Wait For Next Year?: Fair or not, the Reds are why I don’t buy the White Sox…the Mighty Whiteys are just the Reds with a bigger payroll. No matter what you pay for, underperforming is underperforming, and nobody does it quite like the Reds…or the White Sox.

Colorado Rockies – Original Rating: Why Wait For Next Year?: The Rockies are already nestling in for a summer of irrelevance, but they just might have a rising star in catcher Elias Diaz. Going into Sunday’s games, the Rockies backstop sported a .333 batting average and he’s gunned down 44 percent of those who’ve tried to run on him. That’s over twice the MLB average. By the way, they would only be four games back if they were in the NL Central…

Kansas City Royals – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: As I’ve said before, there’s a point when a “rebuild” stalls and a team becomes “perpetually moribund.” A cardinal sign of that is when your “rising stars” don’t deliver. I’m looking at you Bobby Witt, Jr. Here’s a guy about 200 games into his MLB career and going into Sunday’s games he’s batting .236 with an on-base percentage of 272. Say what you will, that ain’t good.

Oakland Athletics – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: This team may not win 40 games. This is what you’re getting, Las Vegas. Enjoy! I guess crappy baseball is better than none at all.

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