Three Up, Three Down: Pure Gold For Diamondbacks

Each week, Kyle Glaser will take a look at the trends in major league baseball

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Paul Goldschmidt, 1B Diamondbacks: Example A that superstars can be found on the second day of the draft. The 2009 eighth-round pick is on pace for the best season of his already magnificent career and is firmly in the National League MVP discussion. Goldschmidt is up to .317, 14 homers, 51 RBIs and 13 stolen bases on the year, leads the National League in on-base percentage (.444) and is on pace for a new career-high OPS (1.030). Oh, he’s also the best defensive first baseman in baseball with seven Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average, per Baseball Reference. With Goldschmidt leading the way, the Diamondbacks entered the day with the best home record in the National League and in playoff position.

Kole Calhoun, RF, Angels: The Angels’ season was supposed to be torpedoed when Mike Trout was lost to thumb injury. Instead, Calhoun is keeping the Angels afloat. Calhoun, a senior sign as an eighth-round pick in 2010, has hit .350/.450/.660 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in the 14 games since Trout went down. As a result, the Angels have kept their head above water and gone 7-7 without their superstar, including a road series win at Houston.

Trey Mancini, LF, Orioles: While Aaron Judge is stealing the show, there is another rookie outfielder mashing in the American League East. Mancini, an eighth-rounder in 2013, is hitting .289 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs and his .864 OPS is second only to Judge among AL rookies. He has more home runs than Mark Trumbo and more RBIs than both Chris Davis and Manny Machado, cementing himself as a cornerstone in a dangerous Orioles lineup.

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Koda Glover, RHP, Nationals: The Nationals named Glover their closer on May 25, and the 2015 eighth-rounder proceeded to run up an 11.81 ERA in seven appearances before landing on the disabled list after hurting his back in the shower. The Nationals entered the year with significant bullpen questions and now have 11 blown saves this season, with their five losses when leading after eight innings the most in baseball.

Kyle Schwarber, LF, Cubs: Renowned as one the most gifted young hitters in baseball, the 2014 first-rounder has instead been one of the game’s worst. Schwarber’s .170 batting average is the lowest in baseball among 167 qualified hitters, and his .294 on-base percentage and .380 slugging percentage are in the bottom fifth of all major leaguers. He simply isn’t catching up to fastballs, with his 26 percent whiff-per-swing rate on fastballs among the highest in the game, per Brooks Basebal

Trevor Bauer, RHP, Indians: The vaunted Indians rotation that carried them to the World Series last season is scuffling this year, especially Bauer. The 2009 third overall selection is 5-5, 6.10, the worst ERA of any member of the Indians staff. Bauer is averaging 11.0 strikeouts per nine but is still getting hit hard, with 67 hits allowed in 62 innings, including 11 home runs. Lefties in particular are having a field day against Bauer, torching him for a .292/.353/557 line on the year.