With the MLB season in full stride, we have seen the rise and downfall of many superstars.

Most of the eyes this year focused on the return of Alex Rodriguez. After a year of suspension due to illegal substance use, A-Rod came back and begun to play like his old self by hitting 11 homeruns, 28 RBI, and a .272 batting average.

This year started off with a superb first 58 games for Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper, who is still going strong. Harper is finally reaching his full potential by hitting 20 homeruns, along with 47 RBI and a stellar .330 batting average. Harper, 22 years old, is one of many young stars who have emerged through the first third of the MLB season. Among these young stars is Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole. At the age of 24, the former 1st round pick has nine wins, two less than his total for all of last year (11). Best of all, he leads the league in ERA, with a phenomenal 1.73. Though having a rough year, San Francisco Giants starter Chris Heston threw the first no-hitter of both the MLB season and his career on Tuesday night against the New York Mets.

Since game one of the MLB season multiple prospects have gotten the call to action, and come up from triple-A to the big leagues. Top prospect and Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard has had his struggles and inconsistencies similar to Tampa Bay rookie right fielder Steven Souza Jr. At the age of 26, Souza has a ton of power, but has had trouble hitting the ball, which shows in his batting average, a disappointing .211.

Young players aren’t the only type of players who can either disappoint or delight. First baseman Prince Fielder has had an all-star caliber year for the Texas Rangers. At 31 years old, Fielder had a rough down year in his first season with the Rangers last season, including a neck injury which sent him to the DL and shut down his whole season early on. However, Fielder is having himself a top-notch year. A favorite to take the comeback player of the year award, Fielder is batting .354 with 41 RBI all while sitting in 6th in on-base percentage with .411, just behind the now injured Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals.

While Fielder continues to slug the ball in Texas, some have had trouble even touching the ball. Among the list of disappointments so far this year is Boston first baseman Mike Napoli and Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utely. Both are posting career lows and have declined in just about every offensive category possible. Of course there is plenty of season left for them to clean up their act and post much better numbers.

Finally, there has been a lot of surprise within the standings across the MLB. In the NL East, the New York Mets (31-28) have a half-game lead on the Washington Nationals (30-28), who were expected to be in first. The NL Central and West are far less surprising, as the Cardinals hold the division lead and the best record in baseball (38-21), and the Dodgers (34-25) hold the NL West lead, one game ahead of the Giants (33-26).

In the AL, the New York Yankees (33-25) hold the division lead while currently riding a 7 game win streak into game two of three in their series against the Nationals. The big surprise comes in the AL West and Central. In the Central, the Kansas City Royals (33-23) lead the division, but the surprise is the one game lead they have over the Minnesota Twins (33-25), who were projected to place last in the division. In the West, the projected standings going into the year have basically flipped as the Houston Astros (34-26) have the division lead just ahead of the Texas Rangers (31-27). In that division, the Cleveland Indians sit in last place with a 27-30 record. All of this happens while one of the best teams in baseball last year, the Oakland Athletics (23-37), sit in last place in the division. To make the division even more interesting, the Seattle Mariners (26-32) were one of the most highly anticipated teams to watch coming into the MLB season, and are just ahead of the last place Athletics.