This weekend marks the beginning of MLB’s vaunted “Put the NL in its Place” Week and the completion of the first quarter of the 2010 baseball season. Instead of ragging on the National League, making fun of its Triple A pitchers and Little League hitting, I am going to play stat geek and look at the best each league has to offer.

AL First Quarter Team

It is only a quarter of the way through season so perhaps the average baseball fan is not really aware of how to gauge the numbers so far. To address this issue, below are the AL leading numbers.

Batting:
.370 BA 14 HR 38 RBI 34 R .480 OBP .685 SLG 18 SB

Pitching:
6 Wins 1.81 ERA 0.91 WHIP 66 SO 5.50 K/BB (Starters) 12 SV

Now, here are the best of the best by position:

C: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
.336 BA 2 HR 20 RBI 21 R .410 OBP .488 SLG

1B: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
.370 BA 11 HR 32 RBI 29 R .480 OBP .685 SLG

2B: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
.335 BA 9 HR 28 RBI 29 R .387 OBP .585 SLG

3B: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
.323 BA 9 HR 37 RBI 32 R .391 OBP .584 SLG

SS: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
.322 BA 0 HR 12 RBI 29 R .420 OBP 17 SB

LF: Brett Gardner, New York Yankees
.315 BA 2 HR 12 RBI 33 R .395 OBP 17 SB

CF: Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays
.300 BA 11 HR 32 RBI 29 R .356 OBP .588 SLG

RF: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
.345 BA 1 HR 9 RBI 20 R .390 OBP 11 SB

DH: Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers
.340 BA 9 HR 36 RBI 25 R .369 OBP .549 SLG

SP: David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
6-1, 1.81 ERA 1.08 WHIP 44 SO (54.2 IP) 2.2 K/BB

CL: Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays
11 SV 0 BS 1.50 ERA 0.94 WHIP 15 K (18 IP) 3 K/BB

NL First Quarter Team

League Leading Numbers:

Batting:
.392 BA 12 HR 38 RBI 36 R .457 OBP .744 SLG 15 SB

Pitching:
8 Wins 0.99 ERA 0.91 WHIP 75 SO 11.0 K/9 (Starters) 15 SV

C: Ivan Rodriguez, Washington Nationals
.331 BA 1 HR 16 RBI 13 R .357 OBP .446 SLG

1B: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
.316 BA 8 HR 29 RBI 24 R .422 OBP .551 SLG

2B: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
.308 BA 10 HR 23 RBI 34 R .432 OBP .587 SLG

3B: Casey McGehee, Milwaukee Brewers
.316 BA 9 HR 37 RBI 23 R .386 OBP .555 SLG

SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
.305 BA 2 HR 19 RBI 29 R .371 OBP .435 SLG

LF: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
.338 BA 7 HR 30 RBI 34 R .415 OBP .556 SLG

CF:Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs
.323 BA 7 HR 25 RBI 26 R .354 OBP .549 SLG

RF: Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
.392 BA 11 HR 38 RBI 25 R .457 OBP .744 SLG

SP: Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
8-1, 0.99 ERA 0.93 WHIP 58 SO (63.1 IP) 2.5 K/BB

CL: Matt Capps, Washington Nationals
15 SV 0 BS 2.11 ERA 1.13 WHIP 18 SO (21.1 IP) 3.0 K/BB