MLB Update: Who's Hot 5/3

If The Season Ended Today
AL MVP: Alexei Ramirez (White Sox): 4 HR, 19 RBI, .356 AVG, 4 SB.  On Pace For (OPF): 22 HR, 103 RBI, .356 AVG, 22 SB.
NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies): 7 HR, 25 RBI, .385 AVG, 0 SB.  OPF: 37 HR, 131 RBI, .385 AVG, 0 SB.
AL Cy Young: Sonny Gray (A's): 4-1, 1.76 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 37 K's.  OPF: 22-6, 1.76 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 207 K's.
NL Cy Young: Johnny Cueto (Reds): 2-2, 1.15 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 50 K's.  OPF: 11-11, 1.15 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 279 K's.
AL Rookie: Jose Abreu (White Sox): 11 HR, 33 RBI, .267 AVG, 0 SB.  OPF: 59 HR, 178 RBI, .267 AVG, 0 SB.
NL Rookie: David Hale (Braves): 1-0, 2.10 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 17 K's.  OPF: 6-0, 2.10 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 98 K's.

Who's Hot (Stats below are from last 7 days for hitters, last 30 for pitchers)

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Marlins): 3 HR, 4 RBI, .500 AVG, 0 SB (season: 6 HR, 10 RBI, .310 AVG, 0 SB).
Over the last week, Saltalamacchia has gone on a tear.  He's hit four home runs in his last seven games, all while batting .458 and putting up a seven game hitting streak.  His batting average has jumped from .250 to .310 as he's gone 11-24, and his slugging percentage has been helped even more so. Coming into April 25th's game, he was slugging .417, but the recent tear where he slugged 1.041 has brought his slugging percentage up to .595.  His week was highlighted by a huge game on Tuesday, where he was 3-4 with a single, a double, and a home run against the Braves.  He was also 2-3 with a home run on Friday.  His run has been absolutely key for the Marlins, who have worked their way to a four game winning streak and a 5-2 record over Saltalamacchia's streak.

Jayson Werth (Nationals): 1 HR, 3 RBI, .500 AVG, 0 SB (season: 4 HR, 16 RBI, .306 AVG, 3 SB).
Werth is currently on a nine game hitting streak, and his ability to get on base has sparked the Washington ball club.   Over the nine games, he's batted .410 (16-39) with a home run, five RBI, and six runs scored.  Five of the nine games have been of the multi-hit variety, all of which occurred over his last seven games.  Over those seven, he's hitting an even more impressive .452.  The highlight of his week was also on Tuesday, where he went 2-4 with a home run in Houston.  Since April 24th, his batting average has jumped from .247 to .306, helped most significantly by a 3-4 performance in his old home of Philadelphia on Friday.

Yasiel Puig (Dodgers): 0 HR, 6 RBI, .458 AVG, 3 SB (season: 3 HR, 18 RBI, .310 AVG, 4 SB).
Yasiel Puig is raking.  After a slow start to the season that saw him batting .235 with one home run and five RBI through 14 games on April 18th, Puig has turned on the jets.  In the 12 games that followed, he's 19-49 (.388 average) with two home runs, 13 RBI, and three stolen bases.  His average is all the way up to .310, and he's registered seven multi-hit games over his last ten.  In game one of a double header on Thursday, he went 4-4 with a double, two RBI, and a stolen base. 

Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies): 2 HR, 8 RBI, .400 AVG, 0 SB (season: 7 HR, 25 RBI, .385 AVG, 0 SB).
Tulowitzki has simply been hot since the beginning of the season.  After an 0-4 on Opening Day, he's batted .402 with seven home runs and 25 RBI over 28 games.  He's hot start has included 12 multi hit games, and he's already had four games this year where he's homered among three hits.  Perhaps his most impressive occurred on Monday, where he was 3-3 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, two walks, and two runs scored in an 8-5 victory in Arizona.  Tulowitzki is the main reason that his surprising Rockies are just a game back of the Giants in the NL West at 18-13.  

Kyle Seager (Mariners): 3 HR, 7 RBI, .381 AVG, 1 SB (season: 5 HR, 15 RBI, .239 AVG, 1 SB).
Seager began his season ice cold, and as of April 23rd, he was batting .156 without a home run and with just two RBI.  Then, on April 23rd, he went 2-3 with two home runs and five RBI to set off a red hot week.  Over a four game period from April 23rd to the 27th, he went 8-15 (.533 average) with five home runs, eleven RBI, and six runs scored.  He homered in all but one game and all four where of the multi-hit variety.  In just those four games, his season's average rose from .156 to .228, while his slugging percentage soared from .219 to .468.  He's earned hits in each of the three games that have followed that tear, bringing his season's average up to .239 and his hitting streak to seven games.  On Friday, he added a 2-5 performance with two RBI.  

Johnny Cueto (Reds): 2-1, 1.13 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 42 K's in 40 innings (season: 2-2, 1.15 ERA, 0.77 WHIP).
Johnny Cueto has been known for hot streaks and hot starts, but he's never pitched quite like this.  Six games and 47 innings into the season, his ERA is sitting at a minuscule 1.15, while his WHIP stands at 0.77.  Opponents are batting an abysmal .136 against him, as he's allowed just 22 hits in 47 innings of work.  He's thrown at least seven innings in each of his six starts, and none have seen him allow more than two runs.  In fact, his very "worst" start of the season occurred on April 11th, when he tossed seven innings of two run ball on five hits and four walks.  He followed that "poor" performance with a three hit shutout on April 16th in which he struck out twelve Pirates.  Over his last three starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.35 ERA, 37 strikeouts, and just nine hits in 26 innings.  Oh yeah, and he pitches at Great American Ballpark, the notorious hitters' park in Cincinnati.

Julio Teheran (Braves): 2-0, 1.22 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 24 K's in 37 innings (season: 2-1, 1.47 ERA, 0.93 WHIP).
After failing to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award in an extremely crowded field last year that included Jose Fernandez, Yasiel Puig, and Hyun-Jin Ryu, Teheran has neatly avoided a sophomore slump with an incredible start to the 2014 season.  He's pitched at least six innings in all six of his starts, and none of the six have yielded more than two runs.  The 23 year old Colombian native tossed a three hit shutout of the Phillies on April 16th, the same day Cueto three hit the Pirates.  After allowing two runs in each of his first three starts, Teheran is 1-0 with a 0.38 ERA and a 0.58 WHIP over his last three starts.  

Who's Cold

Carlos Beltran (Yankees): 0 HR, 0 RBI, .095 AVG, 0 SB (season: 5 HR, 13 RBI, .255 AVG, 1 SB).
The Yankees' prized free agent catch was off to a great start, batting .298 with five home runs and 13 RBI during his 21st game on April 25th.  Starting with a groundout in his final at bat on the 25th, Beltran went on an 0-17 streak that saw his average drop to .234 before he finally knocked another hit on Friday.  His 2-7 performance in Friday's 15 inning marathon may be an indicator that he's ready to resume hitting well.

Mike Pelfrey (Twins): 0-3, 7.99 ERA, 1.99 WHIP, 10 K's in 23.2 innings (season: 0-3, 7.99 ERA, 1.99 WHIP).
The 6'7", 250 pound right hander has had a difficult time getting started this season.  In five starts, he has not completed the sixth inning yet and has allowed at least three runs in each game.  His worst start came on April 10th, when he allowed six earned runs on nine hits and four walks in five innings of work.  On Thursday, he pitched only four innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks, and he was put on the DL after the game with a groin strain. It's safe to say that once he's off the DL, he'll be itching for that first win of 2014.

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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