Daily Baseball Update: Who's Hot

If the Season Ended Today

AL MVP: Chris Davis (Orioles): 8 HR, 24 RBI, .354 AVG, 0 SB.

NL MVP: Justin Upton (Braves): 11 HR, 16 RBI, .305 AVG, 3 SB.

AL Cy Young: Clay Buchholz (Red Sox): 5-0, 1.19 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 39 K's in 37.2 innings.

NL Cy Young: Matt Harvey (Mets): 4-0, 1.54 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 39 K's in 35 innings.

AL Rookie: Justin Grimm (Rangers): 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 15 K's in 17 innings.

NL Rookie: Shelby Miller (Cardinals): 3-1, 1.44 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 26 K's in 25 innings.

Who's Hot (Hitting stats from last 7 days, pitching stats from last 30).

Kyle Seager (Mariners): 3 HR, 7 RBI, .500 AVG, 0 SB.

Over his last seven games, Seager is 13-26 (.500 AVG) with a trio of homers and 7 RBI.  Overall, this seven game stretch of fire has increased his current hitting streak to 15 games, which has overall raised his average from a nightmarish .147 to a solid, clean .300 by hitting .393 through the 15 games.  His last seven games have yielded four multi-hit games, two of which yielded three hits.  On Sunday, April 21st, he went 3-4 with a single, double, home run and 2 RBI.  He followed that up with a 2-5 performance, including a homer, on Monday.  On Thursday against the Angels, he went 3-4 with a home run and three RBI.  However the Mariners have been unable to get hot with him, and are 9-16 on the season, including 2-5 during the last seven games.

Nelson Cruz (Rangers): 3 HR, 13 RBI, .385 AVG, 0 SB.

Over his last nine games, Nelson is 13-33 (.394 AVG) with four home runs and 14 RBI.  Five of the nine games have been of the multi-hit variety, and seven out of nine yielded at last one RBI.  On April 18th, he went 2-3 with a homer.  Then, on April 21st, he was 2-4 with a homer.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, he homered in back to back games on four hits and six RBI.  His average has climbed from .278 to .322 and he is currently on a three game multi-hit streak.  The Rangers have gotten hot with him, going 7-2 during Nelson's hot stretch.

Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays): 5 HR, 9 RBI, .231 AVG, 0 SB.

He only has six hits in his last eight games, but five of those were home runs.  In his last four games, he is 5-14 (.357 AVG) with five home runs and eight RBI.  Each of his last five hits were bombs and he has homered in each of his last four games.  After homering once each on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, he knocked two on Friday.  His average on the season has risen from .200 to .225, but his slugging percentage has soared from .307 to .483.

Bryce Harper (Nationals): 3 HR, 5 RBI, .429 AVG, 0 SB.

It seems like Bryce has been hot all season.  In his last nine games, he's 13-30 (.433 AVG) with three homers and six RBI.  His averaged jumped from .320 to .363, and he even added his first triple of the season.  His two best games of the stretch came on April 17th (4-5) and 20th (3-3, 2 homers).  

Clay Buchholz (Red Sox): 5-0, 1.19 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 39 K's in 37.2 innings.

Buchholz is dealing right now.  He's pitched at least seven innings in each of his five starts and has not given up more than two runs in any.  In the middle, he added 22.2 consecutive scoreless innings.  On April 14th (8 shutout innings), he K'd 11, and on Thursday (7.2 innings, 2 earned runs), he struck out 10.  When you go 7.2 innings and give up just two runs, yet it's your worst start of the season, you're doing something right.

Matt Moore (Rays): 4-0, 1.04 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 29 K's in 26 innings.

Moore, the 23 year old starting off his second full season, leads the majors in ERA at 1.04.  After tossing six shutout innings on April 5th, he added 5.1 shutout on the 10th on just one hit.  On the 17th, he pitched 6.2 innings and gave up two runs, then gave up just one run on two hits in eight innings on the 22nd.  Opponents are batting .116 against him, as he's given up just ten hits in 26 innings.  What keeps him from being my AL Cy Young at this point is that he's walked 14 batters this season, which is tied for the seventh most in baseball and is just three behind the first place tie between Tim Lincecum and C.J. Wilson at 17.  

Matt Harvey (Mets): 4-0, 1.54 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 39 K's in 35 innings. 

The 24 year old sophomore has a 1.54 ERA this season and has just been un-hittable.   He started off the season with seven shutout innings on April 3rd while giving up just one hit, then gave up exactly one run in each of his next three starts.  On Wednesday, he pitched six innings and gave up three runs, his worst start of the season but not enough to knock him from supremacy.  Opponents are batting .122 as he has not given up more than four hits in any start.

Who's Cold

Rickie Weeks (Brewers): 0 HR, 0 RBI, .050 AVG, 2 SB.

Rickie is 1-20 in his last six games, seeing his average drop from .200 to .163.  His only hit came on Wednesday during a 1-4 game.  He's struck out seven times in his six game slump, but has stolen two bases because of walks.

Jonathan Sanchez (Pirates): 0-3, 12.71 ERA, 2.56 WHIP, 11 K's in 11.1 innings.

Over his last two seasons, Sanchez is 1-12 with an 8.76 ERA.  That has been compounded this year with his awful start.  After throwing five innings and giving up three runs on April 5th, he has just struggled immensely, going 0-2 with an 18.47 ERA.  On the 10th, he threw just 3.1 innings and gave up nine runs on eight hits and four walks.  He then pitched just three innings on the 21st, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks.  On Friday, his didn't even record an out before being ejected for hitting Allen Craig on the shoulder with a pitch after giving up two runs on three hits.

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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