Who's Hot/Who's Not 6 14 13

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not 6 14 13

Hey, if you looked at my post on prospect Gerrit Cole, you’ll get a kick out of this: pitcher A.J. Burnett has been placed on the DL for a calf strain, so Cole will most likely be next in line to fill his place for at least the next two weeks. 

Bad news for Rockies fans, though: In one game, star players Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, and Dexter Fowler were injured in a loss to the Nationals. Tulowitzki is out 4-6 weeks with a broken rib, Gonzalez was just removed from the game and is day to day. 

Let’s take a look at who’s hot. We got some different names on this list this time. Lot of pitchers.

 

Adam Dunn: Well, he’s quite hot for a guy like him, but for anyone else, it’s probably just ok. This past week he’s hit .296 with 4 homers, and is now batting a whopping .182 with 17 homers and 38 RBI’s. I’m not going to say whether that’s still good or not, but with a .282 OBP as well, you decide.

 

Carlos Gomez: He could very well be the next Mike Trout, because he’s leading the Majors with a 4.5 WAR. He’s batting .326 with 11 home runs, 36 RBI’s, and 13 Steals, but has batted .345 in the last week. His high WAR though is also with defense, too; he has an incredible 1.9 dWAR. This is weird though, because before this he was a career .250 hitter, and mostly only stole bases.  I don’t think he’s going to win MVP this year, but he is certainly a player that teams would want to have. 

 

Hisashi Iwakuma: He might be pitching better than King Felix now. In his past two games he’s 2-0 without giving up a single earned run, and struck out 18. He’s now 7-1 with a 1.79 ERA. That’s even better than Clay Buchholz right now. I’d say he’s first in line for Cy Young. 

Clay Buchholz: Speak of the devil. I think I’ve been spelling his last name wrong this entire time, but whatever. He’s now 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA, and went 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in his past three starts. He now has a 4.0 WAR, tied with 2^nd best among pitchers.

 

Adam Wainwright: Notice how I said tied in 2^nd with Buchholz? Yeah, he’s tied with Wainwright. His last three starts have been fantastic, going 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA and striking out 23. He’s the first pitcher to get to ten wins, and right now has the highest K/BB ratio at 10.78. Make it over 11 and he beats Bret Saberhagen’s record for highest K/BB ratio.

 

Bartolo Colon: The 40 year old still has something in him, I guess. He’s 8-2 with a 2.92 ERA, but in his past 3 starts he’s 3-0 with a .41 ERA. That’s a reason why they have taken 1^st place in the West.

 

Ervin Santana: He’s pitched really well lately, having a .83 ERA and going 2-0 in 3 starts. However, being on the Royals doesn’t help much. He has a 2.74 ERA this year, but is only 5-5 on the season.

Mike Carp: He might not start, but he’s been playing really well lately. He’s been batting .417 this week with 3 homers, and is now batting .330 this season. Not bad for a backup, I’d take that for a guy who batted .213 last year. 

 

Manny Machado: Looking at Chris Davis when you look at the Orioles? I understand, but it’s Manny Machado that is kicking butt right now. He already has an absurd 28 doubles, and is on track to break the doubles record. He is batting .316 with a league leading 92 hits, and has a 4.1 WAR. That beats Miguel Cabrera, Wainwright, Buchholz, and Tulowitzki.

That’s 9 people who have shined so far. Now of course, there are players that are not so hot. Let’s look at who has struggled putting the bat on the ball this week:

Vernon Wells (Yankees): The guy who has hit 10 homers this year has hit none this past week. In fact, he’s batted only .143 this week, and is now batting .229. Looks like Wells is finally washed up. 

Kurt Suzuki (Nationals): So far it’s not the year for Kurt. The catcher most known for playing in Oakland is now struggling in Washington, as he’s batting .115 this week. So far he’s batting .221 on the season, and I don’t think he’ll be able to bring that up at all.

Matt Moore (Rays): What happened? The guy who started out 8-0 with a sub 3 ERA is now 8-2 with a 3.78 ERA. This is because in his last 3 starts he’s gone 0-2 with a 15.75 ERA, and a 3.25 WHIP. Granted, he played some hard hitting teams like the Orioles and Red Sox, but those teams are in his division, so it’s not like he won’t see them again.

Matt Garza (Cubs): He needs to step up his game if the Cubs want to trade him. He’s got a 6.26 ERA, and his command is looking weaker and weaker. He keeps getting plagued by injuries, and just got fried by the Reds, giving up 9 runs. 

Tom Wilhelmsen (Mariners): Good lord is he streaky! He just blew a save Wednesday to the Astros. TO THE ASTROS. Come on! He has a 15.88 ERA in the past week now, saving 5 of 7, and now has a 3.77 ERA on the season. I don’t know if he’s just tired, or if his command is as shaky as Carlos Marmol’s.

That’s enough yelling at the guys that are cold. Thanks for reading, and check out the Power Rankings tomorrow. 

Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com if you want to say hi.

-Evan Boyd

“He’s on fire scarecrow” – The commentator for NBA Jam