We’re roughly one month into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season, and that means it’s time for a league-wide check-in. Specifically, we’re going to highlight 10 baseball entities that qualify as “pleasant surprises” thus far. What’s a surprise? Something that’s gone contrary to general expectations. What’s the pleasant part of this? It means the player/team/etc has exceeded expectations in a positive way.
Now let’s look at 10 pleasant baseball surprises that stand out through the first month of the season. We’ll proceed in no particular order, just like time itself …
José Soriano, Angels
Jose Soriano
LAA • RP • #59
ERA.84
WHIP.94
IP42.2
BB16
K49
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The 27-year-old right-hander had previously established himself as a solid big-league starting pitcher. In 2026, though, he’s pitched like an ace of aces through his first seven starts of the season. Soriano boasts an ERA of 0.84 — tops in the American League — with no unearned runs allowed. He also leads the AL in strikeouts, and he’s permitted just 24 hits in 42 ⅔ innings. His knuckle curve is still playing like a wipeout offering, and this season he’s ramped up usage of his fastball and splitter. Soriano’s been the AL MVP thus far.
National League Central
Flyover country tends to get short shrift in many ways, and MLB bandwidth is no exception. This season, though, the NL Central is loudly announcing itself as a loop worth your while. Yes, we’re talking about a division that last season yielded three playoff teams, but this year they’ve taken it to another level. The NL Central going into Wednesday’s slate of games was composed entirely of winning teams. Framed another way, the teams of the NL Central against teams from outside the division this season were at that point a combined 23 games over .500 with a combined plus-79 run differential. That’s impressive stuff considering the division is mostly populated with small spenders. Don’t worry, though. If you’re hellbent on mocking Midwest baseball, the AL Central is still here to help.
Chase Dollander, Rockies
Chase Dollander
COL • SP • #32
ERA2.25
WHIP1
IP32
BB9
K39
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We’re accustomed to even highly drafted pitchers flaming out at a mile above sea level, but Dollander, the former No. 9 overall pick out of Tennessee, may have broken the code? Dollander struggled as a rookie in 2025, but thus far in 2026 the 24-year-old right-hander seems to have leveled up in a major way. He had been working as a bulk reliever for the Rockies earlier in 2026 with much success. Not long ago, though, he made the leap to the rotation and thrived in his first start of the season against the Mets. Overall, he’s pitched to a 2.25 ERA and a 212 ERA+ with 39 strikeouts and nine walks in 32 innings. Armed with a fastball that averages 99 mph and a sinker that’s almost as hard, Dollander has been an elite combination of strikeouts and ground-ball tendencies thus far.
Mike Trout, Angels
Mike Trout
LAA • CF • #27
BA0.248
R29
HR10
RBI21
SB5
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Most of us assumed the future Hall of Famer and three-time MVP was inexorably in decline now that he’s reached his mid-thirties. Indeed, Trout hasn’t been his peak self on a sustained basis since 2019. This season, though, he looks revived in a major way. Trout at the moment boasts an OPS of 1.000 with 10 home runs and more walks than strikeouts. He’s also backing it up with elite quality-of-contact numbers. Heck, Trout’s even undergoing a speed renaissance, as his sprint speed has taken a leap back to the days of yore. As pleasant surprises go, Trout’s 2026 to date is one of the most pleasant.
Ben Rice, Yankees
Ben Rice
NYY • 1B • #22
BA0.327
R26
HR10
RBI23
SB1
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It’s a heavy lift to lead one’s team in OPS+ when your teammate is no less a producer than Aaron Judge. Rice, though, has done just that in 2026. To be sure, Rice enjoyed a quality season in 2025, but this year he’s reached new heights in terms of both top-line production and the indicators underlying that production. It of course remains to be seen whether Rice is capable of remaining at such heights, but an xwOBA in the 99th percentile among big-league hitters certainly bodes well.
Taj Bradley, Twins
Taj Bradley
MIN • SP • #26
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Coming into 2026, Bradley was saddled with a career ERA+ of 85 through 73 starts and a pair of relief appearances. In this, his age-25 campaign, though, he appears to have taken a major step forward. This season, Bradley has ditched his sinker and increased usage of his fastball and splitter, and through his first 41 innings with the Twins, he’s got a sub-3.00 ERA with 44 strikeouts. That’s major progress.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves were on a downward trajectory coming into 2026 — from 104 wins in 2023 to 89 in 2024 to 76 last season, which marked their first losing campaign since 2017. While it was fair to expect some level of rebound for Atlanta this season given how injured they were up and down the roster last year, this kind of rebound wasn’t expected. The present juncture finds the Braves with an MLB-best 22-9 record, and they’re backing it up with an MLB-best run differential of plus-69. Yes, it’s too soon to start talking about season-long paces, but we’ll note just the same that this puts the Braves on target for 115 wins in 2026. That would easily be a franchise record and would constitute a 39-game improvement (!) over 2025. Obviously, that’s not likely to be sustained, but so far the Braves have done everything well.
Parker Messick, Guardians
Parker Messick
CLE • P • #77
ERA1.73
WHIP.88
IP36.1
BB10
K38
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The rookie Messick popped up on the back half of some top prospect lists coming into this season, but he’s not a hard thrower. Yes, the Guards are among the best when it comes to developing pitchers, but no one expected this out of Messick thus far. Through six starts, he boasts an ERA of 1.73 with an FIP of 2.30. He’s also got a whiff rate of almost 50% on his changeup.
Justin Wrobleski, Dodgers
Justin Wrobleski
LAD • P • #70
ERA1.5
WHIP.97
IP30
BB9
K15
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The Dodgers have a rotation — and indeed an entire roster — stuffed with superstar free agents and trade additions, so it’s a bit of a pleasant surprise to see that the homegrown Wrobleski has been among their top performers in 2026. The 25-year-old lefty has a fastball-slider approach, and he doesn’t have great velocity or miss bats. However, Wrobleski this season has thrived at limiting hard contact and keeping runs off the board, which is reflected in his 1.50 ERA. The pitching fundamentals don’t suggest he has much chance of keeping this up, but so far he’s been a linchpin for the two-time defending champs.
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
Jordan Walker
STL • RF • #18
BA0.279
R22
HR8
RBI20
SB5
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Walker’s still just 23 years of age, but thanks to deep struggles in 2024 and 2025 he came into the current season at risk of having the “bust” label applied to him. He’s flipped that script in 2026. Yes, Walker after homering eight times in his first 16 games is going through a power drought at the moment, but overall he’s still got a slash line of .279/.352/.532 through 29 games. Stance and approach changes have helped him recognize pitches better and elevate the ball more often. Those have been key improvements in 2026. Almost no one hits the ball as hard as Walker does.
