The 2017 MLB season isn’t even two weeks old, yet some players have already separated themselves from the crowd by starting off the season on the right foot.
There are some batters hitting over .400 in the early going, while some pitchers have yet to register an ERA thanks to tossing scoreless innings.
Here’s a look at the 10 hottest players so far this season.
1. Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Mets
When you hit three home runs in a baseball game, you’re going to end up on a list of hottest players in MLB.
Cespedes hasn’t been spraying balls all over the yard unlike some other batters who are hitting over .400 to start the season, but when he has made contact, he’s gotten all of the pitches.
Six of the Cuban slugger’s 11 hits in 2017 have left the yard, including three against the Phillies on Tuesday, and two against the Marlins on Thursday. The ones against the Marlins were even more impressive when you consider he was ill:
Yoenis Cespedes did not just hit two home runs last night. He hit two home runs with the flu. "By the end of the game … he was shot."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 14, 2017
Nine of his 11 hits have been for extra bases, as Cespedes also has three doubles. That leaves him with a slugging percentage nearing .800 for the season. He also has driven in 10 runs — 9 coming during a three-game stretch from Tuesday-Thursday.
After bouncing around from Oakland to Boston to Detroit, Cespedes has really found his home with the Mets. He clubbed 17 home runs in 57 games for them in 2015, and he smacked 31 more last season. The Mets wisely signed him to a 4-year, $110 million deal last fall. He certainly has been worth every penny so far.
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B, Nationals
Daniel Murphy picked up in 2017 right where he left off last year.
Murphy was signed to a 3-year, $37.5 million deal by the Nats prior to 2016 and delivered beyond their wildest dreams. The 32-year-old batted .347/.390/.595 with 47 doubles, 25 home runs and 104 RBIs — all career-best marks. He was phenomenal in the postseason too, as he went 7-for-16 (.438) with five walks and only one strikeout. That followed a 2015 postseason in which he bashed 7 home runs for the Mets.
Murphy has been just as hot — if not hotter — to start 2017.
Murphy is batting .444 on the season with six doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs. To put his awesome start into perspective, consider that he went 2-for-5 on Friday against the Phillies and saw his average DROP.
After being moved around the infield during his Mets career, Murphy played the majority of his games at second last season for Washington, and has made every start there this season. It’s clear that he has taken ownership of the position and is rewarding the Nats with a hot stick.
3. Dallas Kuechel, SP, Astros
Dallas Keuchel is showing off the form from his Cy Young season in 2015.
After going 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 2015, Keuchel slipped to 9-12 with a 4.55 ERA last season. He battled shoulder problems all season, but he seems to be back this year.
Keuchel is 2-0 after getting the win against Oakland on Friday night. The 29-year-old southpaw has pitched seven innings in all three of his starts, allowing just two runs on the year. He has surrendered no more than four hits in any of his outings, leaving him with an impressive 0.62 WHIP and 0.86 ERA.
One of the keys for Keuchel this season is that he’s been keeping the ball down in the zone.
In first two starts of 2016, Keuchel left 44.9 % of pitches in upper 2/3 of zone/above. Through two starts in 2017, that number is 21.4 %
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) April 15, 2017
He’s also throwing his changeup more often this season, unlike last year, when he threw it just 9.3 percent of the time (per Fangraphs), possibly because of his shoulder issues. The change, which is among the best in the game, shows incredible screw action.
4. James Paxton, SP, Mariners
James Paxton has been one of the most promising players in the Mariners’ franchise for the past several years, and he looks poised to enjoy the finest season of his career.
The hard-throwing lefty has gone 1-0 this season, allowing just six hits and no runs in 13 innings. He’s only walked three and struck out 13 — some excellent peripheral numbers. His strikeouts per nine innings is at the highest of his career, and opposing batters have just a .358 OPS against him.
During his season debut against Houston, Paxton topped out at 98.2 MPH.
James Paxton averaging 96.1 MPH on his fastball topping out at 98.2 MPH… Mixing speeds well on it too. Nasty. pic.twitter.com/fXiDYBnlYU
— Daren Willman (@darenw) April 6, 2017
Paxton has been pitching well since the second half of last year, and a change in his mechanics seems to be a key to that success.
Paxton could be in for a breakout 2017 thanks to serious heat: Since changing his arm slot in mid-2016, his fastball's been in the upper 90s
— SEAGameday (@SEAGameday) April 5, 2017
Paxton averaged 96.8 MPH on his fastball last season according to Fangraphs. He’s at 95.8 MPH through two starts this season, but the important thing is his results have been fantastic.
5. Wil Myers, 1B, Padres
The San Diego Padres have been more competitive than expected to start the 2017 season, and Wil Myers is a big reason why.
Myers is batting .386/.404/.773 to start the season. He’s been racking up the extra-base hits too, as he has four doubles, two triples and three home runs. He even hit for the first cycle of 2017, doing so on Monday against the Rockies.
.@Wilmyers collects ALL of the hits to nail down the second cycle in @Padres history (Matt Kemp, 2015). pic.twitter.com/eO0ZnfaujN
— MLB (@MLB) April 11, 2017
Myers leads the Padres in pretty much every offensive category.
One area where Myers still has room to improve is in his eye at the plate. Myers has just one walk compared to seven strikeouts, which leads to an on-base percentage just a hair higher than his batting average. Last season he walked 68 times, so he could stand to get back to that. But when you’re as hot as he is, you might as well keep swinging.
One of GM AJ Preller’s prized acquisitions, Myers is making San Diego look smart for locking him up through 2022 on a six-year, $83 million contract extension. Maybe the team will be ready to compete towards the end of his deal.
