Who's Hot/Who's Not 8 23

Feeling hot, hot, hot. Oh wait that was yesterday’s article. The Dodgers are hot, but what players are hot too?

Andrew McCutchen: Although his slugging hasn’t been doing much, as he hasn’t hit a home run this week, McCutchen has batted .480 in his last seven games. He’s now had seven multi-hit games in his last ten. His batting stance has now moved to .321/.399/.512 and a 6.6 WAR. Last year he batted .327/.400/.553 with a 7.2 WAR. His defense has improved greatly this year, so he might be even a better player now. 

 

Mike Trout: You know how people were so surprised that Miguel Cabrera is having an even better year this year? Well so is Trout. Since he’s batted .391 this week, he’s now moved to a .333/.430/.574 stance, and is on track to have more extra base hits than he did before. MVP? Unfortunately for him, there’s Miguel Cabrera.

Donnie Murphy: Potentially the new Cubs third baseman in their rebuilding program. Murphy has been unbelievable so far on offense, batting .328 with eight homers and 15 RBI’s. This week, he’s batted .370 with four homers and seven RBI’s. He’s had multi-homer games, and has helped bring nothing but power to this organization. Unfortunately for the Cubs, he’s 30 years old, but has already made a huge impact to the team. 

Clayton Kershaw: Oh man does he deserve the Cy Young, if not the MVP too. Kershaw is 13-7, but has put up a 1.72 ERA with a 188/43 K/BB ratio. In his last three starts, he’s 3-0 with a .38 ERA. He also might win the silver slugger among pitchers!

 

Zack Greinke: Yet another Dodger pitcher that’s hot. Greinke has gone 3-0 with a .42 ERA in his last three starts. He’s 12-3 with a 2.91 ERA. Not as good as Kershaw, but to be fair, there isn’t a better pitcher. 

Jose Fernandez: My pick for the NL Rookie of the Year. Fernandez is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA, and a 157/51 K/BB ratio. He’s been unbelievable as a rookie, and shows lots of good signs for the Marlins. In his last three starts, he’s put up a 1.50 ERA, but since he’s on the poor hitting Marlins, he’s only brought out one win from those starts.

 

Jim Henderson: The new closer for the Brewers, Henderson, 30, has put up 19 saves in 22 opportunities. His last seven outings have been perfect though, going 7/7 in save opportunities, not giving up a single run. He now has a 1.75 ERA on the year. 

That’s the seven that are hot. Let’s see who’s struggling big time.

Starlin Castro (Cubs): It looks like the Cubs should reconsider Castro in his rebuilding program. This week, Castro is batting .074 with no extra base hits whatsoever. He’s now batting .238, 50 points below his average. Not only that, but if you saw his horrible misplay against the Cardinals that got him benched, you know that his defense isn’t doing anything either. 

B.J. Upton (Braves): Upton does not have a single hit in his last seven starts. That’s right, he’s batting zero. He now bats .183/.265/.294, with every stat of his gone down. At least his brother, Justin, is doing ok for the Braves. 

Jake Westbrook (Cardinals): It seems like the only pitcher that isn’t doing well for the Cardinals is Westbrook. He’s put up a 10.69 ERA in three starts, and is now 7-8 with a 4.49 ERA, as well as a 43/49 K/BB ratio. Yeah, not good. 

Jeff Locke (Pirates): Locke was actually on track to finish in the top 5 in ERA, and still might, but has been getting rocked in his last few starts. It might be due to an injury, too. Nevertheless, he’s seen his ERA jump from about 2.15 to 3.01, as he’s been getting rocked in his last few starts. 

Sean Doolittle (Athletics): Not one, but two blown saves this week for Doolittle. He’s gone 1-2 with a 10.13 ERA in his last seven games, and has yet to get a save this year, blowing all five opportunities. Grant Balfour, come back!

That’s who’s hot and who’s not. Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd