Who's Hot and Who's Not- 5 24 13

Hey there! Happy Friday! Sorry about the late post. So far this week has gone by without too much major excitement, but here are some guys that are stepping up to the plate and wrecking the ball, and some others who can’t put a bat on it. Here is this week’s Who’s Hot and Who’s Not list.

So… Who’s hot, Evan?

1.      David Ortiz- Boston Red Sox

      Ok, this one’s pretty obvious. After starting the season on the DL, Big Papi has been hitting the best in his career. He’s actually been very surprising because in these last few years, he has not been as good as he was from 2004-07. In fact, when he hit only .238 in 09, Red Sox fans were questioning why the team hadn’t traded him. One person knew that it was times like those where DH’s like Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas have their off years, but soon come back to hit just as well. Right now, Ortiz is batting .351 with a .395 OBP. In the past 7 days, he’s batted .433 with 3 homers, 12 RBI’s, and somehow he stole a base. If he keeps it up this year, he could be up for MVP.

     Miguel Cabrera: Detroit Tigers

      Another obvious one. “Come on, Evan, we want someone random that nobody has ever heard of!” Don’t worry, those times will come. But Miggy has been hitting like a Triple Crown champion. In the past seven days he’s batted an amazng .519 with 6 HR and 14 RBI’s. AAAAAH. He’s right now hitting .391, and if he keeps it up, he’ll have just under 200 RBI’s, but at least an RBI per game. He is still showing that he is the best hitter in the game. 

3.      Joey Votto: Cincinnati Reds

       He’s batted .538 in the past seven days. Surprised? I’m not either.

  4. Mike Trout: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

      He just hit a cycle, of course he deserves to be on this list.

Sorry about those short ones, but here are guys that you might not know of!

5.      Chris Davis: Baltimore Orioles

      A member of the Orioles, Davis is leading the team in BA, HR’s, RBI’s, Runs scored, and OPS. In the past 7 days he’s batted .407 with 4 Homers and 7 RBI’s. He is a power hitter, but a consistent person to rely on. He’s a big reason why the O’s are 3^rd in runs, 5^th in batting average, and 2^nd in slugging.

 

6.      Jedd Gyorko: San Diego Padres

      This is Gyorko’s first year in the big leagues, playing Second and Third for the Padres. The Padres have a great minor league system, but they trade too much of it away (take Anthony Rizzo as an example). Gyorko thought is someone they have kept, and is having a solid start in his career. Right now he bats .284, but in the last 7 he’s batted .400. Not bad. Look for him in the next few weeks.

7.     Yan Gomes: Cleveland Indians
Gomes catches for the Indians. Although he is the backup, he is batting .311 with 5 home runs. This kid has potential. He is 25 years old, and still has room to improve in the field, but he could still be a threat in the next few years.

8.      Patrick Corbin: Arizona Diamondbacks

 
If you saw my last article on Paul Goldschmidt, you know that him and Patrick Corbin have been carrying the Diamondbacks. Corbin is currently 7-0 with a 1.44 ERA, with a 7.4 K/9 ratio. In his last outing, Corbin pitched a complete game, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits, and struck out a season high 10 batters. Yeah, he’s good. The D-Backs are brewing something special down there. Could this be the return of a Johnson/Schilling era?

9. Jordan Zimmerman: Washington Nationals
There's so much talk about Stephen Strasberg and Gio Gonzalez, but the best pitcher for the Nationals right now is Jordan Zimmerman. He's 8-1 with a 1.71 ERA. And, he's young. He could really be one of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues now and in the next few years. Watch out for him and the Nationals.

So there are my big 8. Know that those are not really in order of how hot they are, but rather what I had in a list of people I was picking out. Shout outs to Troy Tulowitzki, Cliff Lee, Jay Bruce, and Andrew McCutchen for also playing hot this past week.

But with hot players, there are cold players. Let’s take a look at who’s cold:

1.       Todd Helton- Colorado Rockies

      Good lord, man, retire already! Poor Helton is batting .220 this season, and a miserable .053 in the past 7. I love you and your great work in Colorado, Todd, but man is this not your year right now.

2.      Ike Davis: New York Mets

      It seems like the Mets always have that one guy who was supposed to be pretty good, but turns out to suck. Last year was Jason Bay, and this year it’s Ike Davis. He’s batting .040 in the past 7, and is possibly the coldest player in baseball. Bravo.

3.      Adam Dunn: Chicago White Sox

      I went to a Sox game the other day. When Adam Dunn came up, a guy in front of me asked his friend if he wanted to place a bet on if Dunn would strike out or not. The guy did not take the bet. Even Sox fans are starting to boo him already, as he’s on track to strike out over 200 times yet again. Right now he strikes out once every three times he’s at the bat, and is still batting .163. Great move, Sox. (Side note: The guy should have taken the bet, Adam Dunn popped out in that at bat).

4.      Chris Parmlee (Or as like to say, Chris Palm Tree): Minnesota Twins

     Palm Tree has been hitting .190 in the last seven days with 0 RBI’s. He still has young talent, but the Twins need to work out something with him soon.

5.      Rickie Weeks: Milwaukee Brewers

      Come on, man! Weeks is batting .169 and .050 in the last 7. His batting average has slowly degraded since 2009, but I didn’t expect it to be THIS low. 

So congrats to the hots, hope you stay on the list. As for the nots, I hope you move up to the hots! Check out my blog tomorrow, as I will give you a statistical approach on my power rankings for the week.

-Evan Boyd

Any questions, comments, or concerns about my blog? Please email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com.

And remember, Cold hitters: “Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical” –Yogi Berra.