MLB Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Bassitt, Eovaldi Thriving
Gorman on Nine-Game Hitting Streak
Balls are continuing to fly out of ballparks from coast to coast as the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders. It has led to some big names like reigning American League Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge making plenty of MLB news.
There are plenty of familiar names among the pitchers returning to the “Who’s Hot” list for the second week in a row. Chris Bassitt of the Toronto Blue Jays and Nathan Eovaldi are lighting it up with their new teams in 2023 as they look to be among the hurlers that the Las Vegas odds include in the Cy Young odds.
It is not all good news as some players with lofty expectations regarding MLB predictions are off to tough starts.
The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are vying for the best record in the National League and both come in at +600 in the odds to win the World Series according to the MLB picks. The Houston Astros and suddenly slumping Tampa Bay Rays aren’t far behind at +700.
Keep reading for information on the hottest pitchers and batters, as well as players recently struggling.
Who’s Hot
Hitters
- Jemier Candelario, 3B, Washington Nationals: Candelario has four straight multi-hit games. Over his last seven games, he is batting .478 with five runs, five walks, five extra-base hits and an on-base percentage of .586.
- Jake Fraley, OF, Cincinnati Reds: Fraley has at least two hits in five of his last seven games. He is batting .417 during that stretch with seven runs, three home runs, 10 RBIs and four walks.
- Nolan Gorman, IF, St. Louis Cardinals: Gorman has hits in each of his nine games. He is hitting .419 with eight runs, three doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs.
- Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees: Judge has six home runs over his last six games and has driven in 12 runs during that time. The Yankees are 4-0 in the last four games when he has at least one home run and 0-2 when he fails to go deep.
Judgey Cooks. pic.twitter.com/qAePLDg6kT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 19, 2023
- Luis Robert Jr., OF, Chicago White Sox: Robert makes the list for the second week in a row after going 9-for-23 with seven runs, four home runs and five RBIs over a six-game span.
Pitchers
- Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays: Bassitt hasn’t allowed a run over 23 innings in his last three starts. He has surrendered nine hits and struck out 20 during that time.
- Camilo Doval, San Francisco Giants: Doval is 6-for-6 on save opportunities in his last seven appearances. He has allowed two hits and one run with 11 strikeouts over 6⅔ innings in those games.
- Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers: Eovaldi is 2-0 with a 1.14 and 22 strikeouts in 23⅔ innings over his last three starts. He is 5-2 with a 2.83 ERA for the American League West Division-leading Rangers.
Quality night from Nate. #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/9PP0zH1Mei
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 18, 2023
- Tony Gonsolin, Los Angeles Dodgers: Gonsolin has allowed five hits and no earned runs over 11 innings in his last two starts. He has 12 strikeouts and one walk in those outings.
- Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates: Keller is 2-0 with eight hits and no runs allowed in 16 innings in his last two starts. He has 21 strikeouts and one walk during that stretch.
Who’s Not
Hitters
- Willy Adames, SS, Milwaukee Brewers: Adames is 2-for-22 with 11 strikeouts over his last six games and his batting average dropped to .210. One of those hits was a double.
- Matt Chapman, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays: Chapman is accustomed to being a part of the “Who’s Hot” list. However, he is batting just .179 with 10 strikeouts in his last seven games. He has gone eight straight games without driving in a run.
- Trent Grisham, OF, San Diego Padres: Grisham is batting .059 with one run scored and nine strikeouts over the last six games as he makes this list for the second consecutive week.
- Paul DeJong, SS, St. Louis Cardinals: DeJong was hitting .364 earlier this month. That number has dipped to .282 after going 4-for-27 with 10 strikeouts. Three of the four hits have been home runs.
- Kelbert Ruiz, C, Washington Nationals: Ruiz is 2-for-21 over his last six games and has one extra-base hit over the last nine games.
Pitchers
- Graham Ashcraft, Cincinnati Reds: One of two Cincinnati pitchers on this list, Ashcraft has allowed 22 hits and 19 runs with five walks in 12⅓ innings in his last three starts.
- Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds: Greene continues to be among the National League strikeout leaders. However, he is 0-2 with a 7.80 ERA and five home runs allowed in 15 innings in last two starts.
- Alek Manoah, Toronto Blue Jays: Manoah was listed by the sportsbook as a contender for the American Cy Young Award coming into the season. However, he is 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA with 10 hits and 11 walks given up in 8⅔ innings over his last two starts.
- Martin Perez, Texas Rangers: Perez has surrendered 16 hits, four home runs and 11 runs in 8⅔ innings over his last two appearances.
- Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles: One of the candidates for the American League Rookie of Year according to the MLB betting lines is 1-1 with an 11.37 ERA over his last three games. He has allowed 24 hits, seven home runs, 16 runs and seven walks in 12⅔ innings.
