MLB April 28: Who's Hot, Who's Not
Given all the buzz about the NFL Draft tonight, I'm sure there aren't many who have been keeping close track of baseball over the last several days. If you haven't been paying attention, some of the teams and/or players on this list may surprise you. Up to this point, it's been difficult to find the "who's hot" portion, given the up-and-down state of things.
In any sense, this is my second edition of Who's Hot and Who's Not.
HOT: New York Mets
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No, there is no typo in the title. The New York Mets and not the Yankees headline my weekly listing. Why are they the headline with an 11-13 record?
Well, the Metropolitans have won six games in a row, which is more games than they won in their first eighteen. Let's set aside the fact that their victims over these six games have been the lowly Astros, Diamondbacks and Nationals, as they all had better records at the time of their defeats.
The hitting is up from .227 a couple weeks ago to .254. No, it's not a great average, but the jump is.
HOT: Tampa Bay Rays
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Like the Mets, the Rays have been on a tear as of late, going 13-5 since their dreadfully bad 0-6 start.
Hitting remains an issue (as the collective .228 average suggests), but the pitching has been lights-out. Opponents to the mighty Rays have not scored more than four runs in 11 of the last 13 games, good to give them a 3.45 team ERA, third best in the American League.
HOT: Oakland A's Pitching
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How do you cheer for a team who is 12th in the AL in hitting? I'd say the 2.66 team ERA, which is tops in the bigs, is a good fix. Unfortunately, this team is still a massive conundrum. Will the pitching be good enough for a playoff run, or will the offense be their demise?
Time will tell.
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HOT: Ryan Braun
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24 games, 24 games on base for Ryan Braun. He is among the league leaders in every offensive category, including the major league lead in home runs at nine.
Will the soft-spoken left fielder be the third Brewer to be MVP?
NOT: Kansas City Royals
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What to say, what to say? I can't say I didn't expect the Royals to eventually start losing.
They have five straight losses entering tonight's game with the AL Central leading Indians. They're still in second, so a win would really help them get off this part of the list.
NOT: Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates
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Not even 10,000 fans at Wednesday's game against the Giants, and only about 2,500 at Monday's makeup game against the Nationals.
NOT: Carl Crawford
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This is one reason I think all athletes should be limited in how much they are able to make.
Do I agree that Carl Crawford is an excellent ball player? Absolutely.
Should he be making as much as he does even if he was putting up his usual numbers? No way.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Crawford is batting .156. That's scary.
NOT: Miguel Tejada
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He was once one of baseball's top athletes.
At this point, his .210 batting average may be telling Tejada that it's time to hang up the cleats.
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