The first weekend of the 2024 season is over. It is, obviously, way, way, way too early to draw any conclusions about any player, team or division. But hey, what’s the harm in trying anyway?

All right, so we’re not going to project too much forward at this point, but these are still real games after all, with real stats and real stakes. Thus, you can learn real lessons.

• We are one weekend in. Might as well dive into some overreactions!

Here’s a way-too-early takeaway from each team after Opening Weekend.

Jump to: AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West

AL EAST

Blue Jays: Justin Turner fits like a glove
Turner really didn’t get going until Sunday, when he had a home run and four RBIs in an easy 9-2 win to salvage a series split against the division rival Rays. But for a guy who had played 1,538 games for four different teams heading into this year, he looks remarkably comfortable in his new Blue Jays fit. The Jays seemed to need another bat heading into this year; the red-bearded veteran may just be it.

Orioles: When everything’s clicking, look out
A 4-1 loss to the Angels on Sunday shouldn’t obscure just how dominant the Orioles looked in their first two victories in that series. The offense scored 24 runs, Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez had fantastic starts and the Camden Yards crowd didn’t stop screaming all weekend. Those Orioles looked like they could win 101 games again this year. In fact, they looked like they could win more.

Rays: Is Randy Arozarena finding another gear?
For as truly thrilling as it can be to watch Arozarena play -- and as beloved as he is by the Rays fanbase -- he has yet to have a true superstar-type season. For a franchise forever searching for transcendence, Arozarena has always been good rather than transcendent. But over the weekend, he looked like the Babe Ruth-esque version of himself that we’ve seen in the postseason, hitting two homers, stealing two bases and even signing autographs for fans … during the game. That’s legend behavior.

Red Sox: The rotation fears could be overblown
After Lucas Giolito was lost for the season during Spring Training, the general consensus was that Red Sox starters were going to be shelled night in and night out. That may end up being the case, but so far, they’re, uh … terrific? Kutter Crawford, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello and Garrett Whitlock put up a 1.64 ERA against the Mariners. That quartet also had a 0.68 WHIP, the best four-game stretch to open a season since at least 1906, with 27 strikeouts and only one walk, numbers that would be the envy of any team in the sport.

Yankees: Everything is beautiful!
Remember when Yankees fans were tearing their hair out and convinced their team was about to fall apart? (You know: Wednesday.) Nothing that a four-game road sweep over the dominant American League franchise of the last decade can’t fix. The Yankees’ four victories in Houston had a little bit of everything: Wild comebacks, a homer from Giancarlo Stanton, two homers from Oswaldo Cabrera, Juan Soto throwing out a game-tying runner at the plate in the ninth inning (and putting up a .600 OBP) and newest Yankee Jon Berti making a game-saving play in the ninth inning to secure the sweep. The Yankees still have a lot of questions to answer, but it’s tough to imagine the first series possibly going better than that.

AL CENTRAL

Guardians: Bieber may be Bieber again
The Guardians are always going to revolve around their pitching, and it sure looks like Shane Bieber may be the driving force of this rotation in a way that he hasn’t in a while. It’s one thing to throw six shutout innings, as he did on Opening Day against the A’s. But 11 strikeouts? Four hits? That looked like the Cy Young-winning version of Bieber that Cleveland needs.

Royals: This rotation could be much better
It got a little bit lost after the Royals suffered two tough losses before blasting five homers in a Sunday laugher, but the rotation certainly held up its end of the bargain. Brady Singer, Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans gave up a total of just two runs in 19 innings over the weekend. They actually gave up just 10 hits and five walks, and they struck out 23 (10 from Singer). Royals pitching has been a problem for nearly a decade now since their title run, and they haven’t had many series where they’ve gotten three starts like this.

Tigers: These young players are learning to win
The Tigers have plenty of talent, but it hasn’t really been tested, at least in the big leagues, in any meaningful way. It has all been about building up to this point. That’s why the Tigers have to love their three one-run victories over the White Sox, including two come-from-behind wins in the past two days. This is Detroit’s first 3-0 start since 2016 -- their most recent winning season.

Twins: Royce Lewis is going to have another truncated season
Forgive the Twins if they’re not celebrating their series win over the Royals all that festively. The news that Lewis will miss time to injury for the fifth consecutive season took the wind out of everybody’s sails. His “severe” quad strain will leave him out for at least a month -- and probably more -- taking away perhaps the Twins’ key player. “Maybe I'm too electric for my own good,” he said afterwards, which is funny and sad at the same time.

White Sox: Luis Robert Jr. looks like a superstar
Robert showed what he can do in a full, healthy season last year, and he has picked up where he left off in 2023. On Saturday, he mashed a pair of monster home runs off the Tigers’ Kenta Maeda. Robert looks like an absolute game-changer, but it’s still up in the air what the White Sox are going to do with their star center fielder. If Chicago suffers more sweeps like the one to Detroit to open the season, Robert could be on the trade block at some point.

AL WEST

Angels: You can never have a team meeting too early
It might seem a tad rash or even panicky to have an all-hands-on-deck team meeting after losing your first two games of the season, but then again, did you see how badly the Angels lost those first two? New manager Ron Washington got everyone together after Saturday’s loss, and it resulted in a quick short-term turnaround: A much sharper, relatively easy Sunday win over the Orioles. Who’s up for another meeting tomorrow?

Astros: Joe Espada has his hands full already
As if it wasn’t hard enough taking over a team with seven straight ALCS appearances -- and all the expectations that go with that -- the new Astros manager learned this weekend that no matter how much talent you have, when your bullpen falters and you can’t get big hits with runners in scoring position, you will lose. (Again, and again, and again.) The schedule doesn’t get any easier: They’ve got the Blue Jays, Braves and defending champion Rangers (twice) over the next fortnight.

A’s: Mason Miller still throws really, really hard
The A’s didn’t have any save opportunities for their young flamethrowing closer, but he still got into a game, and while he did give up a run, he threw some of the fastest pitches all weekend, topping 101 mph. He is going to be fun to watch in the late innings for this club.

Mariners: Julio Rodríguez electrifies like no one else
Rodríguez only has three hits so far, but he sure made one of them count with the first walk-off hit of his career, a single on Saturday to beat the Red Sox. Mariners fans lost their minds, as they tend to when Julio does pretty much anything.

Rangers: World Series rings are really shiny
The Rangers have a full season ahead of them, they’re going to try to win a World Series and it’s going to be fun to watch. But let’s not miss the forest for the trees here: Texas just celebrated the first World Series championship in franchise history, earning the gold uniforms, the massive rings and the raising of the pennant. There’s only a first time once. Rangers fans reveled in it, and they should have. They deserve it.

NL EAST

Braves: Injuries could be the only thing to slow this lineup
The Braves can score like no one else in baseball, largely because their lineup is so deep. They have stars and the ability to keep coming at you, one through nine. That was the case again this weekend as nine different players drove in at least one run, but the first significant injury arrived, too, with catcher Sean Murphy straining his oblique on a swing Friday. Murphy was the one Braves regular who played fewer than 138 games last year as he shared time with Travis d’Arnaud, but his early absence is a reminder that the good fortune to avoid injuries is a difficult thing to repeat.

Marlins: Repeating their 2023 feats will be hard
The Marlins made the playoffs last year in large part because of their 33-14 record in one-run games and their 7-3 record in extra-inning games. In their four straight losses to the Pirates to begin this season, they’ve lost one of each of those departments: A one-run loss in the opener and an extra-inning loss on Sunday. They were also 46-35 at home last year, but so far, they’re 0-4.

Mets: The vibes don’t feel particularly different so far
At last year’s Trade Deadline, the Mets quickly and dramatically changed the look of a disappointing roster and altered expectations for 2024 in the process. They still want to make the playoffs, but they were noticeably less aggressive this past winter. So far, though, these new Mets look, uh, a lot like the old Mets, suffering a home sweep to the Brewers and never feeling all that close to winning.

Nationals: CJ Abrams could be a franchise centerpiece
Abrams, the best young player on a team looking for every good young player it can find, went 0-for-4 in an uninspiring loss to the Reds in the opener. But in the next game, a Nats win, he stole three bases and scored three runs. He also homered in the series finale, although the Nats blew a lead in the ninth to lose. Abrams is a reason to watch the Nats every night.

Phillies: Phillies fans bring the noise
The biggest moment of the Phillies’ weekend was in the seventh inning of the series finale when the Braves and Phillies mistakenly ran off the field because Philly fans were booing the first part of umpire Mark Wegner’s replay announcement (which had bad news for the Phillies) so loudly that they missed the second part (which had good news, and kept the inning going). Both teams were called back to the field, and the Phillies subsequently scored three runs to take the lead in their lone win of the weekend. It’s fair to say Phillies fans are fired up this year.

NL CENTRAL

Brewers: This team can still win without Craig Counsell
There was a general sense that the Brewers were not going to compete this year after winning the NL Central in 2023, in part because they lost their manager to the division rival Cubs. They’re now already two games up on said manager because of an extremely well-rounded series sweep of the Mets on the road. The best thing they had going was their defense, with even new addition Rhys Hoskins (who was terrific the whole weekend, even when he was in the middle of all sorts of drama) making a key, sterling play. These are the defending division champs, you know. They played like it all weekend.

Cardinals: This team has found some of the edge it lost last season
After two non-competitive losses to the Dodgers to start the season, the Cardinals had them down to their last strike five times on Saturday night … and let them off the hook every time. They then faced Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th and a one-run lead … and got him to pop out. The 2023 Cardinals would have -- and repeatedly did -- folded in situations like that. The '24 Cardinals, at least during the first weekend, didn’t shrink from them, even while dropping three of four at Dodger Stadium. For a team that finished in last place last year, that’s a start. Considering how Sunday night’s game ended, that resilience will continue to come in handy.

Cubs: Everyone’s already sweating the pitching
The Cubs have good hitters, but they are built around pitching and defense. That pitching took a big hit in the opener when ace Justin Steele injured his hamstring while fielding a bunt. Just like that, the Cubs are down their best starter for at least a month. The Cubs will get their first regular season look at Shota Imanaga in their Wrigley opener on Monday. He better be ready, because he’s their ace right now -- and could be for a while.

Pirates: Oneil Cruz is back
It’s difficult to imagine the season starting any better for the 4-0 Pirates, but the best immediate news may be that Cruz, who played only nine games last year before fracturing his left ankle, looks healthy and as wildly talented as ever. He’s hit .357 with a homer so far, and he has even walked twice, a very good sign. The Pirates have a lot more talent than people realize, and it was all on display this weekend. But Cruz was the eye-popper. Again.

Reds: They’re already firing up their fans
The Reds’ fanbase is one of the most devoted in baseball, but until last year, they hadn’t had that much to get that excited about recently. The influx of young talent that hit the roster in 2023 lit the match, and we’re seeing the results already: Great American Ballpark was hyped on Sunday, as you would expect when a team hits back-to-back homers in the bottom of the ninth to win the series. That place is going to be loud all year.

NL WEST

D-backs: Last October doesn’t look like a fluke
Corbin Carroll, the D-Backs’ best player, went 3-for-13 with no extra-base hits in their four games against the Rockies and even got caught stealing. And yet the team still averaged eight runs a game behind an offense that looks downright scary: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. currently has more RBIs (10) than four teams.

Dodgers: Mookie is leading the MV3 gold medal contest
This might be a contest that only exists in our brains, but considering the Dodgers have a combined four MVP awards among the top three batters in their lineup, we find ourselves asking, “If they were on a medal stand right now, who would get the gold?” The clubhouse leader at this point is obviously Betts, who has simply been the best player in baseball so far, hitting four homers, driving in 10 runs, hitting. .500 and walking seven times. Sorry, Shohei and Freddie: You’ve both been amazing, but Betts is floating above the Earth right now. Also, when your team plays the Dodgers this year, get used to saying, “Wait, how are these guys back up again?”

Giants: Look out for Jordan Hicks
Many scoffed when the Giants signed the former Cardinals and Blue Jays reliever and told the world they’d be making him a starter. While he looked good in the spring, it still seemed optimistic that he’d sustain in the rotation once the rigors of the regular season started. And sure, he only threw five innings in the opener, but what a five innings they were, featuring six strikeouts, just three hits, no earned runs and a feeling of real dominance. The Giants think they have something special with Hicks. In his first start, they absolutely did.

Padres: Their offense is still explosive
The Padres have already scored 13 runs or more twice, and they’re being driven by their stars, particularly Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., the latter of whom is looking more and more like the player he was before his suspension. We won’t see if they’ve truly exorcised last year’s demons until they win a one-run game or an extra-inning game, though.

Rockies: Kris Bryant needs to get it going
Bryant, whose Rockies tenure was a massive disappointment through the first two seasons, got Sunday off, and it was probably for the best. Through three games, he’s 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts. This can’t be who Bryant is now … can it? Clearly, a Colorado club that scored 14 runs while going 1-3 in Arizona needs more from him.