Kurtz Keeps Climbing, Rice Cools Off
Who climbed and who cooled over the past week.
This is the week's hot-and-cold ledger. Nick Kurtz added five home runs and kept rising, while Ben Rice slid back from where he sat seven days ago. Same league, two directions.
Turning it around
Pitchers whose form — our 0–100 score from ERA & WHIP — climbed most this week.
Nick Kurtz led all home-run climbers with five gained, up to 16 and a .976 OPS. Behind him, Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani and Byron Buxton each added three over the week.
Yoshinobu YamamotoLos Angeles Dodgersform 77→82 (+5)
Drew RasmussenTampa Bay Raysform 78→83 (+5)
Michael SorokaArizona Diamondbacksform 62→66 (+4)
Cooling off
Hitters whose OPS fell most this week.
Casey Schmitt took the biggest step back, down 74 points to an .810 OPS, while Ben Rice slipped 52 points but still sits at a healthy .998.
Casey SchmittSan Francisco GiantsOPS 0.884→0.810 (-0.074)
Ben RiceNew York YankeesOPS 1.050→0.998 (-0.052)
Junior CamineroTampa Bay RaysOPS 0.907→0.861 (-0.046)
Mike TroutLos Angeles AngelsOPS 0.876→0.845 (-0.031)
Jonathan ArandaTampa Bay RaysOPS 0.857→0.828 (-0.029)
Changing colors
Players who moved up or down a tier on our scale this week.
Byron Buxton, Matt Olson and Jake Bauers all jumped from above-average to elite this week. The other way, CJ Abrams, Shea Langeliers and Junior Caminero each cooled from elite back to above-average.
Byron BuxtonMinnesota Twinsabove avg → elite
Matt OlsonAtlanta Bravesabove avg → elite
Jake BauersMilwaukee Brewersabove avg → elite
CJ AbramsWashington Nationalselite → above avg
Shea LangeliersAthleticselite → above avg- Junior CamineroTampa Bay Rayselite → above avg
Stats via the MLB Stats API. Colors, form scores and power rankings are Baseball Lens's own.