Daily Baseball Update: Who's Hot

If the season ended today...

AL MVP: Chris Davis (4 HR, 17 RBI, .556 AVG, 0 SB).

NL MVP: Justin Upton (5 HR, 7 RBI, .389 AVG, 0 SB).

AL Cy Young: Yu Darvish (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.12 WHIP).

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.44 WHIP).

AL Rookie: Jose Iglesias (0 HR, 1 RBI, .583 AVG, 0 SB).

NL Rookie: Pete Kozma (1 HR, 3 RBI, .350 AVG, 0 SB).

Who's Hot in Past 7 Days

Chris Davis (Orioles): 4 HR, 17 RBI, .556 AVG, 0 SB.

Davis has gotten off to a scorching start.  He homered in each of his first four games and has had an RBI in each of his first five.  On April 3rd, he was 4-4 with two doubles and a homer.  His 17 RBI on the season lead the majors by eight over John Buck, his .556 average by .034 over Adam Jones, his .591 OBP by .031 over Jed Lowrie, his 1.389 slugging percentage by .111 over Justin Upton, and his 1.980 OPS by .274 over Upton.  The Texas native has helped Baltimore go 3-2 over its first five games.

Justin Upton (Braves): 5 HR, 7 RBI, .389 AVG, 0 SB.

Upton has a home run in four of his first five games.  After starting off the season with three homers, five RBI, and a .308 AVG over his first four games, he exploded with a huge game yesterday, going 3-5 with a double and two homers, the second of which was a walk-off.  His five homers lead baseball, and he would lead in a lot more categories if it weren't for Chris Davis.  Dating back to 2012, he is on a seven game hitting streak.

Todd Frazier (Reds): 3 HR, 8 RBI, .500 AVG, 1 SB.

Frazier is building off a solid rookie campaign that almost netted him the Rookie of the Year Award, having garnered nine hits, three homers, and 7 RBI in his past three games.  The pinnacle game of his season came on Friday, when he was 4-5 with two homers, 4 RBI, and even a stolen base.  Overall, he is 11-22, giving him more hits than Chris Davis and Justin Upton.  If the phrase "sophomore slump" exists, he hasn't heard it.  Combined with Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce in that Cincinnati order, Frazier is showing that the NL Central leading Reds mean business this year.

Adam Jones (Orioles): 0 HR, 7 RBI, .522 AVG, 1 SB.

Jones hasn't homered, but he is leading the majors with eight runs scored and his .522 average places second only to his teammate, Chris Davis.  Having recorded a hit in each of his five games, his hitting streak runs to six when added to his 1-3 performance on October 3rd of 2012.  This year, four of his five games have featured multiple hits and three of the five have had at least three hits.  His best game came on Opening Day, when he was 3-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored.  His only stolen base of the season came during a 3-5 performance on Thursday in Tampa Bay.

Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers): 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.44 WHIP.

The Dodger ace has been un-hittable this year.  Over his first two starts, he has tossed 16 shutout innings on just six hits and one walk.  He struck out 16 batters and is the only pitcher in baseball so far to have thrown a complete game shutout.  On top of all that, he homered on Opening Day during his shutout, and now has successfully scored more runs himself than his opponents.  His offensive line: 1 HR, 1 RBI, .250 AVG.  His opponents: 0 HR, 0 RBI, .118 AVG.  That is a sign that he's doing something right.

Who's Cold in the Past 7 Days

Aaron Hicks (Twins): 0 HR, 2 RBI, .045 AVG, 0 SB.

When 23 year old Aaron Hicks made the Twins roster out of spring training, he did not envision the horrible slump that would ensue.  He is just 1-22 with ten strikeouts and even a caught-stealing.  After hitting 13 homers, batting .286, and stealing 32 bases at AA New Britain in 2012, he should still be optimistic of a quick turnaround.  

Jeff Keppinger (White Sox): 0 HR, 0 RBI, .048 AVG, 0 SB.

Keppinger was signed by the White Sox because he hit .325 in 115 games for the Rays last year.  Now, he's just 1-21 and is hitless in his last 19 at bats.  On the bright side, he is making contact, having struck out just twice in this big slump.

-- 

Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman