Author: Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY

With a quarter of the MLB season in the books, a breakdown of which surprise teams are actually postseason contenders.

Baseball’s revamped scheduling has been a boon for teams in the AL East, taking advantage of more games outside their gantlet of a division.

Tampa Bay and Baltimore are off to hot starts in 2023 and meet for the first time this week in a three-game series at Camden Yards.

In a massive boost to the Phillies, two-time MVP Bryce Harper will be activated, likely for Tuesday’s game in LA barely five months after elbow surgery.

Preliminary signs indicate MLB might be standing firm against decades of loss capped by a stadium-shutting pandemic.

The Pirates are off to a 16-7 start, their best since the 1992 club of Barry Bonds and  Doug Drabek and Co. won 16 of their first 22.

San Diego reached the NLCS without their $340 million and now Tatis returns to a team that has changed dramatically he last played in 2021.

The Rays can go for a record 14-0 start on Friday at Toronto when they open a three-game series at Rogers Centre.

The Tampa Bay Rays have won 12 in a row, the most to start a season since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers opened 13-0.

The wins just keep coming for the Tampa Bay Rays, who improved to 11-0 after Tuesday night’s win over the Boston Red Sox.