Rise and shine: 5 teams exceeding expectations

Let’s look at teams that might be better than we expected them to be. Some, like the Mets and Angels, were widely seen as postseason contenders, if not favorites. Others — like the Braves, White Sox and Pirates — were hard to predict because of the large number of young players either on the roster or on the fast track to the Major Leagues. Yes, this is all based on a small sample size. At this point, that’s the only sample size we have.