We can see that four players top 100 degrees! Last year, only one player, Victor Martinez, had a temperature above 100 at this point of the season. Three of the hottest players are on the best team in baseball right now, the Washington Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman leads the way with a scorching heat of 111 degrees. This season, he leads the league in hits, home runs, and RBIs with an outstanding line of .420/.458/.886. This is a far cry from his 2016 line of .218/.272/.370.
Fellow National Anthony Rendon’s heat isn’t a surprise after he went 6 for 6 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in the National’s historic 23-5 win over the Mets on Sunday, increasing his batting line to .278/.356/.411. Prior to this game, he was hitting only .226/.316/.250 with no home runs and only five RBIs.
Here are the coldest hitters through yesterday’s games:
The Coldest Hitters, May 2 |
Player |
Temperature |
Jesus Aguilar, Brewers |
37° |
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Blue Jays |
41° |
Chris Davis, Orioles |
43° |
Curtis Granderson, Mets |
44° |
JaCoby Jones, Tigers |
45° |
Kevin Kiermaier, Rays |
45° |
Jacob May, White Sox |
45° |
Kyle Schwarber, Cubs |
45° |
Two of the coldest hitters are no longer playing for their major league teams. The Blue Jays brought in the veteran Jarrod Saltalamacchia this year, but after producing just one hit and one walk in 26 plate appearances this season, he was designated for assignment last Friday. Also, the struggling rookie, Jacob May of the White Sox, was sent down to Triple-A yesterday. He was batting only .056/.150/.056 in his 42 plate appearances this season.
The Brewers are taking the opposite approach with the almost frozen Jesus Aguilar. He was given the start at first base yesterday even though he was hitless in his most recent 17 at-bats prior to the start. His last hit was on April 11th!