Baseball season is long, and usually it’s not worth getting too worked up over who’s in what place through the first week or two.

But with today marking the season’s one-month mark, we’re at a point now where the landscape is starting to come into focus.

Entering Saturday the Red Sox stood at 14-13, good for second in the AL East and 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place. Their 14 wins was tied for second in the American League, which to this point looks wide open and hasn’t seen any team separate itself from the pack.

It’s a totally different story in the National League, which arguably boasts the five best teams in baseball through the first month.

At this point it’s safe to say the Red Sox start has been disappointing but not disastrous. The club hasn’t played to its potential and has endured a couple of really poor stretches, but it’s also right within striking distance of all its top competitors. One good week and the Red Sox could find themselves with the best record in the AL.

How about everyone else? Have all the preseason favorites played to their potential? Any big surprises? Here’s a look around the league at the one-month mark.

New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso has gotten off to a fast start through the first month of the season. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Best team: New York Mets

The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers deservedly got the most attention for their splashy offseason, but the New York Mets have assembled a powerhouse of their own.

Entering Saturday the Mets had the best record in baseball (18-8) as well as the largest lead of any of the six division leaders. The fact that the Mets had opened a five-game lead in the NL East is particularly notable given how that division features two other clubs expected to be potential World Series contenders in the Phillies and Braves.

Even more notable is the fact that New York’s pitching, not its offense, has largely carried the team.

The Mets have given up the fewest runs (74) in baseball and their pitching staff collectively boasts the lowest ERA (2.85). All five of the club’s starters have recorded an ERA of 3.29 or better, and arguably the only pitcher on the staff who has underperformed is closer Edwin Diaz, who still has six saves and 17 strikeouts in 11 innings despite a 4.91 ERA.

Offensively the Mets have been a middle of the pack team, but there’s good reason to believe they’ll get a lot better as the season goes along.

Pete Alonso has been a monster, batting .333 with six home runs, 11 doubles, 26 RBI and a 1.109 OPS, and Francisco Lindor has gotten off to a great start too, batting .297 with five homers and 14 RBI. Everyone else has kind of just been OK, including Juan Soto. New York’s new $765 million man currently is batting .245 with three homers, 12 RBI and a .762 OPS, which is better than average production but nothing close to what the Mets were expecting.

Soto does have more walks (19) than strikeouts (16), as he usually does, so don’t be surprised if he breaks out at some point as the calendar turns to May. New York’s pitching staff may come down to Earth eventually, but this Mets team is built to win and nobody should be surprised if they remain atop the standings throughout the summer.

Matt Chapman, right, and Jung Hoo Lee have played a central role in the San Francisco Giants’ hot start. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Biggest surprise: San Francisco Giants

Anyone could have guessed that the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres would be good, and after the way they finished the season it isn’t exactly a shock that the Detroit Tigers have picked right up where they left off.

But even with their impressive offseason, did anyone give the Giants a chance to contend for a division title?

As of this writing the Giants (17-10) are in a dead heat for first in the NL West with the Padres (17-9) and Dodgers (16-10), all three of whom have won more games than any of the three division leaders in the American League. San Francisco ranks sixth in runs scored per game (4.78) and seventh in runs allowed (3.81), and the Giants have played a significant portion of their schedule against winning clubs, collectively going 13-7 against teams above .500.

Jung Hoo Lee, whose first season in the majors was limited by injury to just 37 games, has looked much more like the player the Giants thought they’d be getting when they signed the outfielder out of Korea prior to the 2024 season. Lee has been one of the best all-around players in baseball so far, batting .330 with three home runs, 11 doubles, 16 RBI and a .963 OPS. Matt Chapman has also been excellent with five home runs and 24 walks, and Wilmer Flores has seven home runs and 27 RBI.

Those three have helped offset the disappointing start by big ticket offseason addition Willy Adames.

Pitching-wise the Giants have an ace in Logan Webb (1.98 ERA, 44 strikeouts), and while former Cy Young Award winners Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray haven’t been anything special, San Francisco’s bullpen has been lights out. It’ll be interesting to see if the Giants can keep pace with Los Angeles and San Diego over the long haul, but the club has certainly made a statement out of the gate.

This season hasn’t gotten off to the start Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves had envisioned. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Biggest disappointment: Atlanta Braves

Sure the Colorado Rockies have been wretched and the Chicago White Sox are looking at another long summer, but how much of a bummer has this first month been for fans of the Atlanta Braves?

Originally viewed a potential World Series contender, the Braves (11-14) currently sit last in the NL East behind the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. Atlanta has been below-average both offensively and defensively, has battled key injuries and started the season with an 0-7 road trip, getting swept out of the gate by both the Dodgers and the Padres.

So far the Braves are still without MVP contender Ronald Acuña Jr., who is expected back from his torn ACL sometime in May, and top starter Spencer Strider only made one start after returning from elbow surgery before going right back on the injured list with a low-grade hamstring strain. Atlanta should get both players back soon, but the early performance of reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale has been concerning. Sale currently has a 5.40 ERA over 28.1 innings through his first five starts, not exactly the kind of production you want from a top-of-the-rotation arm.

The good news is Atlanta has shown signs of bouncing back over the past week. The club has won six of its last seven games since April 18, and if we’re being honest, starting the season with seven straight against the Dodgers and Padres is a tall order. My guess is a month from now we’ll look up and the Braves will be back in Wild Card position, and if Strider is back and Acuña is on the cusp of a return, Atlanta should be able to put this rough April behind it.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is an early favorite to win a third AL MVP award. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Judge, Tatis Jr. early MVP favorites

This might come as a shock to a lot of you, but Aaron Judge is really good.

The two-time MVP has solidified himself as a clear favorite to win his third, ranking as baseball’s most productive hitter through the first month by a fairly wide margin. As of this writing the New York Yankees star either leads or is tied for the MLB lead in wins above replacement (2.2), batting average (.408), on-base percentage (.508), slugging percentage (.714) and hits (40) while also ranking among baseball’s best in runs scored (23), total bases (70), home runs (7), RBI (26) and walks (18).

At this point Judge’s track record speaks for itself, so there’s no reason to expect he’ll slow down anytime soon.

The only player who has matched Judge’s overall impact is San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr., who once again appears to be harnessing the incredible talent he flashed before his career was thrown off the rails by injuries, suspensions and poor judgment.

As of this writing Tatis has 2.1 WAR, a .340 batting average, eight home runs, 17 RBI, seven stolen bases and a 1.038 OPS through his first 25 games, all of which rank among the best marks in MLB. He’s played a central role in San Diego’s 17-9 start, and if he can stay healthy he’s on pace to approach his career-best marks from his breakout 2021 season.

Tatis may eventually face stiffer competition for MVP than Judge, especially if Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound and resumes his two-way dominance, but for now he’s made a strong opening statement.

Even amid what he described as a disappointing start, Garrett Crochet still ranks among the early contenders for the AL Cy Young Award. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Crochet among crowded Cy Young field

Garrett Crochet’s last start was a little bit underwhelming, and over the past week or so the Red Sox ace has complained that his performance hasn’t lived up to his expectations.

Still, if this qualifies as a rough stretch, then watch out.

Even after allowing four runs on Thursday, Crochet still entered the weekend tied for third in the AL in innings pitched (37) while ranking third in strikeouts (44) and sixth in ERA (1.95). He’s one of several early contenders, a group that also includes Texas’ Tyler Mahle, Houston’s Hunter Brown and New York’s Max Fried among others, but also probably has the highest ceiling of the bunch.

On the National League side, Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler is once again in the mix, ranking second in the NL in both innings (37.1) and strikeouts (50). Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto has the league’s best ERA (1.06), and former Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta has gotten off to a brilliant start with the Padres, posting a 1.20 ERA with a microscopic 0.767 walks and hits per innings pitched.

It’s hard to say anyone has really set themselves apart as a favorite, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to be played.