Hello and welcome to the updated MLB ROTO category leaders nine weeks into the season and hopefully most of you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend and maybe watched a few laps of the Indy 500 has come and gone. Will Power ran away with the victory while Ed Carpenter ate some of his dust in the last few laps. After another week of baseball, some AL pitchers joined a different type of race to try and pass up the stat leaders, while others are looking for Vin Diesel’s NOS button to extend their lead, leaving the rest of the pack hoping for a Cal Naughton Jr. finish for silver.
Wins
AL – TOR J.A. Happ/CLE Corey Kluber/HOU Charlie Morton/NYY Luis Severino (7)
Severino and Kluber have been stuck at seven, allowing Happ and Morton to join the party.
Favorite in the Group – CLE Corey Kluber
Very weird game for Kluber as he pitched well enough to earn a win going 6.1 innings seven H and seven K’s with no walks and no ER however, the bullpen fell off a mountain blowing a 2-0 lead and giving up 11 runs in the eighth and ninth inning. Kluber gets to face off against White Sox, which is a good match up for literally anyone.
Waiting in the Weeds – BOS Rick Porcello
NL – WSH Max Scherzer (8)
Mad Max sits alone atop of the NL. He’s like the bully on a tetherball court that everyone is afraid to challenge.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – PHI Aaron Nola
Saves
AL – SEA Edwin Diaz (18)
Nothing has changed in the save category as Diaz and Davis jumped out to early leads in April and May and have not looked back.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – BOS Craig Kimbrel
Trailing Diaz by two, all it takes is a dominant series to catch up. Only issue is Boston has a +77 run differential. When they win, there is rarely a save opportunity for Kimbrel. Series coming up against the Astros could have some closer finishes and give Kimbrel a few chances to catch Diaz.
NL – COL Wade Davis (18)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – SD Brad Hand
Strikeouts
AL – HOU Gerrit Cole (109)
Eight strike out performance against Cleveland allowed him to hold a slight lead over Sale this week.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – BOS Chris Sale
NL – WSH Max Scherzer (108)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – ARI Patrick Corbin
The way deGrom is pitching of late, it won’t be long before he surpasses Stephen Strasburg and Corbin to take over this spot.
ERA
AL – HOU Justin Verlander (1.08)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – HOU Charlie Morton
NL – Jacob deGrom (1.54)
Although he did not earn the W, he went seven scoreless innings, which was good enough to overtake the stagnant Martinez.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – STL Carlos Martinez
WHIP
AL –HOU Justin Verlander (0.71)
Houston pitchers continue to dominate AL hitters as Verlander went six innings yielding three hits, a walk and an earned run.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – HOU Gerrit Cole
NL – ARI Patrick Corbin (0.89)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – WSH Max Scherzer
Runs
AL – BOS Mookie Betts (52)
Easily the top producer in MLB thus far, however is currently day-to-day and might sit out the opener this week against the Blue Jays.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – LAA Mike Trout
Just seven behind Mookie with an opportunity to close the gap if Betts misses any time with a side injury. Trout had a ridiculous 5-5 performance scoring three runs on Saturday against the Yankees. He is always a threat get on base with a .453 OBP and a .465 wOBA and move into scoring position with 12 stolen bases and has not been caught on the base path yet.
NL – ATL Ozzie Albies (46)
Always want to sing Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” when I hear the name Albies. Not necessarily stealing bases like we know he is capable of with only six, but SLG at .545 is allowing him to hit his way into scoring position rather than running.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – COL Charlie Blackmon
Homeruns
AL – BOS Mookie Betts/LAA Mike Trout (17)
Favorite in the Group – BOS Mookie Betts
Mookie is still hitting the beJesus out of the ball with a hard hit rate of 46%. Although Trout is doing his due diligence with a HR/FB at 26%. Mookie holds his spot as favorite because he is barreling up more often than Trout for now at 14.6 Brls/PA compared to 11.5.
Waiting in the Weeds –BOS J.D. Martinez
NL – WSH Bryce Harper (16)
Homered on Sunday to slightly extend his lead to two ahead of Albies and Villanueva. Harper has been unlucky this season with a BABIP of .207 while his career number sits at .316: (2014) .352 (2015) .369 (2016) .264 (2017) .356. It’s just a matter of time before the .207 rises and the power shows up again.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – SD Christian Villanueva
RBIs
AL – BAL Manny Machado (44)
Not the most productive week for Machado who posted just two RBIs throughout the week.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – BOS J.D. Martinez
NL – CHC Javier Baez (42)
Javy really Will Power’d his way into the lead in the late game Sunday night with an opposite field three-run home run off former teammate and sandwich pick Pierce Johnson.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – CIN Scooter Gennett
Stolen Bases
AL – SEA Dee Gordon (16)
Sweet Dee has been on the 10-day disabled list with a toe injury and still holds the lead. According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Gordon is feeling better and should be ready to get back into game action this week.
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – BOS Mookie Betts
NL – ATL Ender Inciarte (18)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – WSH Trea Turner
The sprint speed is up there with the best of them as expected. Turner is one of five players in the MLB with a ft/sec sprint speed 30.0 or greater. On a current eight-game hit streak, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to swipe bags.
Batting Average
AL – BOS Mookie Betts (.359)
Favorite in the Group – N/A
Waiting in the Weeds – CLE Michael Brantley
NL – CIN Scooter Gennett/ATL Nick Markakis (.340)
Here is a new name to the list and one of my personal favorites, Scooter Gennett. A recent 5-5 game at Coors is responsible for his ability to catch Markakis here as he finished the series 8-13.
Favorite in the Group –
Waiting in the Weeds – LAD Matt Kemp
