The start of a new baseball season brings with it the chance to marvel at some video-game-like performances. Players might be able to sustain a .400 batting average or a 0.00 ERA for a couple of weeks, but not much longer. Conversely, some players have dug themselves into early statistical holes that, in reality, aren’t as large as they appear on paper.
The season is still less than a month old, so there’s plenty of time for baseball’s biggest over- and under-achievers to even things out on paper. For the first installment of Newsweek‘s Who’s Hot/Who’s Not list, we take a look at who is keeping alive the dream of a historically great — and historically awful — season-long performance.
Who’s Hot
1. Ryan Pepiot, Tampa Bay Rays: Denver’s Coors Field is notoriously tough on pitchers of all experience levels. Pepiot, 26, tossed six shutout innings at the Rockies’ home park Sunday, striking out 11 batters without allowing a walk — something no Colorado opponent had ever done. Not bad for his 12th career start.
2. Ronel Blanco, Houston Astros: In his first two starts of 2024, Blanco has thrown one complete game no-hitter and taken another no-hitter into the sixth inning. His streak of 44 consecutive outs before allowing a hit is the longest such streak to begin a season by any pitcher since 1893. Not bad for his eighth and ninth career starts.
3. Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers: Speaking of firsts, Glasnow became the first pitcher to strike out 14 batters in a game while throwing fewer than 90 pitches since pitch-tracking began in 1988. He’s 3-0 in his first four starts since being traded to the Dodgers in December.
4. The Jacksons: Holliday, Chourio, Merrill. The Orioles summoned Jackson Holliday, the consensus top prospect in the game, from the minor leagues Wednesday to create a rare alignment of future stars: the three youngest players in Major League Baseball now share the first name of Jackson. Holliday joined the Padres’ Merrill (a .286 hitter through Tuesday) and the Brewers’ Chourio (.282 with two home runs) to form the hottest lineup of Jacksons since Michael went solo.
5. Tyler O’Neill, Boston Red Sox: O’Neill hit four home runs in a four-game stretch to match Mike Trout for the major league lead in home runs, with six. Boston might have to overachieve to contend in the American League East, but they can at least take solace in winning the trade for O’Neill (acquired from St. Louis for two minor league pitchers).
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Who’s Not
1. Victor Scott II, St. Louis Cardinals: Preseason injuries to the Cardinals’ three starting outfielders forced them to turn to Scott, a speedy prospect who had never played above Double-A before this year. Scott hasn’t been able to unleash his full base-stealing prowess because he hasn’t been able to get on base. His .073 batting average through Tuesday was the lowest among qualified National League hitters.
2. Chris Taylor, Los Angeles Dodgers: Taylor hasn’t had enough plate appearances to spare Scott some indignity. His .038 batting average comes by virtue of an ugly 1-for-31 batting line (with 13 strikeouts) to start the season. The Dodgers are on the hook to pay Taylor $13 million this year and next.
3. Ulnar collateral ligaments: The most important tissue in a pitcher’s body has not had a good week. Torn UCLs struck Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber, and will likely end Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider’s season too. The first 100 days of each season are always the most brutal for injury reports, but the vitriolic discussion around this year’s elbow injuries has been particularly intense.
4. John Fisher: The A’s owner has faced backlash for the better part of a year for bungling the team’s relocation plans. The latest wrinkle? Fisher recently announced the franchise will bolt Oakland for Sacramento for the next three or four seasons while the A’s wait for a new ballpark to be built in Las Vegas. He even encouraged fans to come out and cheer for opposing players. Whoops.
5. Skip Schumaker: The Marlins reportedly voided the option year in Schumaker’s contract, allowing the second-year manager to look elsewhere for a new job at year’s end. The move was reportedly a good-faith concession offered because Schumaker was upset by general manager Kim Ng’s departure after last season. If that wasn’t enough motive for Schumaker to move on, Miami is a league-worst 2-11.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.