As of June 6^th, I’m still questioning how in the world some things are playing out in the MLB. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make me wonder if we have entered an alternate reality where the 2016 season never happened. So far 2017 has been a topsy-turvy season in which nothing is what it seems.

If you recall from my most recent power rankings, there were a few familiar names missing from the list, and for good reasons. The Chicago Cubs were likely the most notable of the missing teams, but if you look at their record its not easy to understand why they have fallen out of the top five (for now). Boston and Cleveland are in that boat as well considering both were the top contenders for the AL pennant just two months ago. That’s just a small dose of the strangeness of 2017, but is it going to last?

For starters, let’s talk about the defending champs. Yes, there definitely seems to be somewhat of a World Series hangover in Chicago. The lineup is not producing as much as we might have expected. In fact, they haven’t even come close to the expectations so far.

Chicago ranks 15^th in the majors in runs scored, 17^th in on base percentage, and 28^th in batting average. Yikes. For a team with this much firepower in the lineup, you would think that they would at least be in the top ten in these categories. Now, there is a simple explanation for this problem. No one is hitting right now.

Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant is technically the team leader in batting average at .267, while the team’s other MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo is batting .232. None of this compares to the struggles of leadoff man Kyle Schwarber, who has a paltry .162 batting average.

The Cubs are clearly a much better team than they have showed so far in 2017. They’ve got the ring to prove it. It does seem like they have bottomed out though after a disastrous West Coast swing where the Dodgers and Padres each swept the Cubs. Chicago is off to a good start to the month, winning four in a row since returning to Wrigley Field, including a much-needed three-game sweep of St. Louis.

Do you want to hear the craziest part of all of this with the Cubs? Despite all of their problems (and I didn’t even talk about the pitching woes), Chicago is somehow tied atop the NL Central with Milwaukee. Obviously the bar is set a tad higher than a division title though. It seems like the champs are getting ready to turn the corner.

The AL Central is another source of bizarre outcomes at the moment as well. Cleveland is currently one game out of first place, chasing the Minnesota Twins. Why is this strange? Well, both teams can’t seem to win at home right now. In fact, Minnesota is in first due to the second-best road record in baseball. Cleveland should eventually make a move on the Twins, but again you would have thought this team would have been better after coming up short in the World Series.

The Indians made one of the biggest splash moves in the offseason by signing Edwin Encarnacion away from Toronto. Unfortunately, it seems losing the lineup protection of Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, and José Bautista. Encarnacion is on pace to shatter his career worst in strikeouts (138) and is completely off the rails in terms of his RBI pace (22 RBIs so far in 2017). Fortunately, this isn’t the worst problem for Cleveland at the moment.

Starting pitching is a problem right now. As of today, none of the Cleveland starters have an ERA under 3.00 (Mike Clevinger is the best with a 3.10 through seven starts). In fact, the average ERA for the starters is closer to 4.00. Even more alarming are the lack of quality starts for the Tribe. Through 55 games, the Cleveland starters have combined for only 25 quality starts.

This likely will be improved now that the team’s ace, Corey Kluber, returned from injury over the weekend. Kluber should bring some stability to the rotation, but everyone else needs to follow suit and pick up their game. Over the course of 162 games, manager Terry Francona can’t rely on the bullpen like he did in the postseason a year ago.

Of the three teams I mentioned at the beginning, the Red Sox actually are in the best shape of the bunch. Unfortunately, the problem for them is that they are in one of the league’s best divisions in 2017. The Yankees are way ahead of schedule in their franchise retooling, Baltimore is a solid team once again, the Rays aren’t a pushover, and Toronto is getting back in the hunt after injuries derailed the first two months.

The acquisition of Chris Sale has gone as well as expected, which has helped since Rick Porcello hasn’t been nearly as good as a year ago. David Price is back after missing the majority of the past two months with an injury. AL MVP runner-up Mookie Betts isn’t putting up the same numbers as last year but has been overshadowed by the tremendous start of Xander Bogaerts.

It also helps that the Red Sox currently have the league’s second-best closer in Craig Kimbrel. If Boston brings a lead into the ninth, odds are the game is over once Kimbrel toes the mound. Now they just have to survive in the AL East heading into the dog days of summer.

Aside from the presumptive favorites going through various hardships this season, we are still trying to figure out whether some of the surprise teams can continue their success. Colorado is still playing well, while Arizona is slipping a bit on their road trip. Although I think we can all agree that so far, this has been the year of the Astros so far.

The best part of all this is that we have plenty of time to find out definitive answers to all these questions.

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.