Cold Weathers Blues in MLB
Cold Weather Blues in MLB 2024
By David A. Avila
The sagging Los Angeles Dodgers battered the New York Mets 10-0 behind eight strong innings by new ace Tyler Glasnow. Now they depart to the East Coast for a nine-game journey after a disappointing home stand.
Glasnow performed with near flawless location on his fastball and had all of his pitches working against the red-hot Mets who out-hit the Dodgers for two games.
Behind Glasnow the cold-hitting Dodgers erupted behind Shohei Ohtani’s monstrous two-run homer that snapped a tie with Hideki Matsui for most homeruns by a Japanese in MLB at 176.
Freddie Freeman’s bat also suddenly heated up with a pair of doubles and is now has a .287 batting average and .796 OPS.
Every year April brings blustery winds and rain outs during the first month of baseball. It’s also cold for the batters.
It happens every year in the Spring. Try hitting a baseball in the freezing cold.
Many a great hitter slumps during the first two months as temperatures hover around 50 degrees and lower in some cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit and Boston.
Take Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners. No one debates that the Dominican baseball outfielder is a bona fide star. With back-to-back seasons producing All Star numbers as a batter, this year he’s at the bottom of the pack with a .529 OPS.
And he’s not alone as a number of former All Stars are slow in getting up to their normal numbers as hitters. St. Louis Cardinal slugger Paul Goldschmidt has been an All-Star multiple times but during the past three seasons as he ages, the cold seems to affect the first baseman who has a career batting average of .292 but now is hovering below .200.
Blame it on the cold weather.
A large proportion of Major League Baseball players come from warm areas in the US or Latin American countries like Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. If you notice during the season as the weather gets warmer players like Boston’s Rafael Devers and older veterans like Goldschmidt get hotter with the warmer weather.
Of course, sometimes it’s simply the ageing process that dulls the senses and reflexes. It takes time for some veterans to heat up the muscle memory.
Here are some of the best players starting very cold in 2024.
Cold Start Blues
Francisco Lindor-NY Mets .151 Ave. 478 OPS
Javi Baez-Detroit Tigers .172 Ave .453 OPS
Nick Castellanos-Philadelphia Phillies .159 Ave .386 OPS
Randy Arozarena-Tampa Bay Rays .171 Ave. .508 OPS
Paul Goldschmidt-St. Louis Cardinals .182 Ave. .516 OPS
Byron Buxton-Minnesota Twins .193 Ave. .528 OPS
Julio Rodriguez-Seattle Mariners .219 Ave. .529 OPS
Xander Bogaerts-San Diego Padres .200 Ave. .529 OPS
Masataka Yoshida -Boston Red Sox .215 Ave. .574 OPS
Tim Anderson-Miami Marlins .267 Ave. .596 OPS
Big Break
Former Dodgers Michael Busch and Yency Almonte were traded to Cubs for lhp Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope in January. Given a chance at steady playing time, Busch has been white hot for the Chicago team.
Busch is batting .317 with 6 homers, 13 rbi and a 1.067 OPS for the Cubs who were near the top of the Central Division standings.
As a Dodger Busch was unable to find a spot on talented roster and the trade seems to have worked out favorable for the former University of North Carolina alum.