Who's Hot/Not - Week 3 - 2021
Bryce Harper (OF, Philadelphia Phillies)
Quick Hits:
11/22 (.500)
.607 OBP
2 solo homers
Although Harper's teammates couldn’t get on the base paths for his .500 BA week, Bryce still slugged two homers. He's off to an insane start OBP wise. Going into today, Harper has a .469 OBP. Excluding last year in the NL, that number would be the highest since Joey Votto back in 2012. Harper is on a tear this year, being in the top percentile in xSLG, xwOBA, and xBA.
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David Peralta (LF, Arizona Diamondbacks)
Quick Hits:
10/20 (.500)
9 RBI
.583 OBP
Peralta is best known for his bat, and that's evident given his career .820 OPS in eight years. This past week, Peralta batted .500 and batted in nine of his teammates. He's always towards the tops of the leaderboard in EV, and even had his two hardest hit balls this past week (113.8 MPH and 111.8 MPH). His numbers this year back up this consistent performance, rarely swinging and missing (86th percentile) and sparsely striking out (84th percentile).
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Kevin Gausman (SP, San Francisco Giants)
Quick Hits:
14 IP
16 K
0.64 ERA, 0.93 WHIP
Gausman had two great starts this past week. Against the Phillies, he went six innings with no earned runs and five strikeouts. His second game versus the Marlins was even better. Gausman went eight innings allowing only one run and two hits while striking out eleven. He's certainly off to the best start of his career. Excluding last year, Gausman has a career high FIP of 3.37. Digging into his Statcast numbers, he's been an above average pitcher, given his Chase Rate (82nd percentile) and Hard Hit Percentage (68th percentile).
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Joe Ross (SP, Washington Nationals)
Quick Hits:
10.1 IP
9.58 ERA
1.65 WHIP
Ross' start against the Cardinals inflated the ERA for the year. He pitched 4.1 innings while allowing 10 earned runs. The second start was a completely different story. He went six innings versus the Mets, giving up only one run and five hits. Tossing out the Cardinals game, Ross has had a strong year, giving up only one run over 17 innings. Batters struggle with his sinker, leading to a lot of ground balls. Batters are chasing a ton, dropping him into the 85th percentile.
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Matt Chapman (3B, Oakland Athletics)
Quick Hits:
1/16 (.063)
1 RBI
.158 OBP
The two time Platinum Glove winner struggled mightily at the plate this week and for the year. Last week, he put together a slash line of .063/.158/.063/.220. This year, he's below his career average on every metric. Even though his Outs Above Average puts him at the top of the list for third basemen, he's saved a total of -2 runs, which would be a career low. These numbers can directly be correlated to the hip surgery the smooth fielding third basemen went through last year.
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Nick Ahmed (SS, Arizona Diamondbacks)
Quick Hits:
0/17
.000 OBP
Nick Ahmed put up a big 0 this past week, not grabbing a base hit or even a walk. Even though Ahmed has never been an offensive juggernaut (career .673 OPS), this year has been even worse. He's gotten three hits over 43 plate appearances this year, for a slash line of .073/.116/.073/.189. Much like Chapman above, Ahmed is known for his glove (two Gold Gloves), which keeps him in the lineup. He's got a -46 OPS+ this year and a -0.7 WAR.