Kuzul

Just over two weeks into the Major League Baseball season and we have already seen our fair share of surprises from clubs like the Indians and Royals off to hot starts, along with teams like the struggling Tigers and Red Sox.

No matter who you are cheering for, you either have your hopes set for the skies or are panicking that your club has dug themselves a very deep hole in the early going.

This year has already been surprising. Teams like Minnesota, San Francisco and Boston are at or near the bottoms of their divisions while Baltimore, Cleveland, and Kansas City or either first or second in their respective divisions.

It isn’t likely to stay this way for long, unless you are rooting for Tampa Bay (sorry, Rays fans).

With all of that being said, here are the most impressive and disappointing players thus far for each team in the AL.

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Tonight, the Milwaukee Brewers (7-5) come into Washington, D.C. to face off against the Nationals (5-7). Normally, this matchup would be mind-numbingly bland for any non-Washington or Milwaukee fan, but the presence of Nyjer Morgan makes this series an interesting one to watch—that is, if Morgan plays. 

Nyjer Morgan is reportedly not in the starting lineup for the fifth-straight game in tonight’s series opener. He is hitting .476 in 12 games for the Brew Crew—his third team since being called up to the big leagues in 2007 with the Pirates. Morgan was hitting .359 in 49 games for Washington after they traded for him and current closer Sean Burnett, in exchange for their closer Joel Hanrahan and OF Lastings Milledge.

Nyjer broke his hand in August of ’09 and was never the same for the Nats, as he hit for a .253 AVG and a poor .319 OBP where he spent most of his time in the leadoff spot last year.  

Although it is not clear why Morgan, the former Nat, will not be starting again tonight, it doesn’t mean that his former team shouldn’t be on high alert in this series. Morgan’s reputation proceeds him, and Nyjer is a well-known hothead. I don’t anticipate that Morgan will cause a bench-clearing brawl similar to the one he started in Florida, but if he at least starts one game in this three-game set, I expect Morgan to make his presence known.

The only other question now is: Will Nyjer make his former team regret handing him his walking papers—so to speak (trade)—or will he reassure them that they made the right choice?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com