The first four days of the 2018 MLB regular season are in the books. Only four teams remain undefeated (Chicago White SoxMilwaukee BrewersPittsburgh PiratesWashington Nationals) while four are still looking for their first win (Cincinnati RedsDetroit TigersKansas City RoyalsSan Diego Padres). The early batting average leader? Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger. He is 5 for 8 (.625).  

April is simultaneously the best and worst time of the year for baseball analysis. It's the best because baseball is back! Spring training is fun in its own way, but there's nothing quite like meaningful baseball. It's also the worst because everything that has happened so far has happened in a small sample size. An extremely small sample size. Tough to know what is part of a trend and what is simple randomness. That's never stopped us before though, and there's no reason it should stop us now. 

Here is just one our 10 early season observations.  

The Dodgers really miss Justin Turner

The Los Angeles Dodgers were dealt a tough blow late in spring training, when Justin Turner was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken hand. He started the season on the disabled list and is still a few weeks away from returning. I suppose the good news is Turner is back in Arizona preparing to ramp up his rehab work.

For the time being, the Dodgers have used Logan Forsythe and Kyle Farmer at third base, and through four games the team's third basemen are 0 for 13 with zero walks, one hit-by-pitch, and with three errors. Yikes.

The Dodgers knew they would miss Turner. He's one of the best players in the game and, realistically, there simply was no good way to replace him that late in spring. Los Angeles is going with what they have and the downgrade has been even more severe than they hoped. Eventually Forsythe and/or Farmer will get some hits. Right now, both the team's offense and defense have taken a big hit without Turner.