Who's Hot/Who's Not 8 30 13

Happy Friday! Friday leads to my personal favorite on the blog: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not. Make sure you add these players to your beat the streak, and watch out for pitchers who are on fire. Let’s take a look at my eight who are hot.

Brandon Moss: Moss had an incredible game two nights ago, hitting two homers and driving in a career-high six runs as Oakland beat Detroit, 14 to 4 (also watch out for the A’s in general, they are hot). Last night, Moss didn’t go lights out like before, but still hit a two run homer in a loss to the Tigers. This week he’s hit five homers, driven in twelve, and has batted .400. It’s moved his batting average to .252, and he now has 25 homers. 

 

Will Venable: Venable has been killing it, having six multi-hit games in his last ten. This week he’s batted .519 with 3 homers and 7 RBI’s. He is really finding his rhythm, and now has a .281 average with  20 homers and 49 RBI’s. He is on an 8 game winning streak, too. 

 

Jason Castro: Castro is another player killing it right now, batting .526 in his last seven games, including hitting four out of the park. The catcher has a .282 batting average now, with 18 homers and 53 RBI’s. He is my pick for Beat the Streak today.

 

Paul Goldschmidt: I read an article today that had Goldschmidt in third place for the NL MVP race, behind Clayton Kershaw and Andrew McCutchen. If he continues hitting like this now, he might move up on the list. Goldschmidt has not hit a homer in his last seven games, but has batted .357 and is averaging a walk per game. Apparently Steve Berthiaume, the broadcaster for the Diamondbacks, accidently called Goldschmidt “Paul Golds**t” on air. That’s embarrassing.

 
Zack Greinke: Greinke almost went the distance in his last outing, going eight and two thirds and giving up five hits while striking out nine. In his last three starts, he’s gone 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA, and is now 13-3 with a 2.86 ERA. Wow.

 

Ricky Nolasco: Another Dodger on the list, Nolasco is finally starting to feel his groove after getting traded. In his last three starts he’s 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA, striking out 22 while only walking two. He now is 11-9 with a 3.26 ERA.

 

Jose Fernandez: The hottest pitcher since the all-star break, Jose Fernandez is starting to become the best Rookie to watch in the Major Leagues. You might not know who he is because he’s on the Marlins, but he should win Rookie of the Year. Fernandez is 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA in his last three starts, striking out 22 and walking four in that span. He’s now 10-5 with a 2.30 ERA, and makes his next start today.

Koji Uehara: My favorite as you probably know now. Koji still has yet to give up a run since the all-star break, and has been even better since his last two years (when I thought he couldn’t be any better). This past week he’s collected four saves and a win, and has moved to 3-0 with a 1.22 ERA and 14 saves. He also has one of the best, if not THE best career K/BB ratio in MLB history, and has an 80/9 ratio this year.

That’s my picks for who are hot. Other players that are hot include Ian Desmond, Bryce Harper, and Shane Victorino. Now let’s take a look at who’s cold!

Kolten Wong (Cardinals): To be fair, Kolten Wong just came up to the big leagues a few weeks ago, but he’s still batting .172 this year. To make matters worse, he has not gotten a single hit in his last seven games. It might be time to move him back down to AAA. He still is a top prospect for the Cardinals, but still needs some work.

Jose Altuve (Astros): Another “cut him some slack” guy because he’s pretty young and does have lots of potential. Altuve has struggled lately, putting up a .172 batting average in his last seven. However, he still bats a comfortable .268, and has lots of speed and is a good defender. Hitting wise, he’s just in a rough spot. 

Garrett Jones (Pirates): Not cutting any slack here. Jones (32) has a .235/.292/.409 batting line, which is much lower from his career .255/.317/.457 line. Last year he hit 27 homers, and this year he only has 12. In his last seven, he’s batted only .059, that one hit being a homer. With a team that’s actually going to be in the playoffs, he needs to step up.

Edison Volquez (Padres): The Padres sent Volquez down the other day after he could not get out of the first inning while giving up five runs. He is 9-10 with a 6.01 ERA this year, and went 1-1 with a 13.50 ERA in his last three starts. 

King Felix Hernandez (Mariners): Felix on this list?? What is this?? But it’s true. Hernandez has gone 0-3 with a 9.64 ERA in his last three starts. Wednesday against the Rangers, he only went three innings and gave up 8 runs on 11 hits. He still is 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA, but needs to have the best month of September if he still wants to be in the Cy Young race.

Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns that you may have.

-Evan Boyd