We hit the National League West players off to hot starts this morning and discussed some that are not.  We now wrap up our look around the league with the AL West…

Houston Astros
Hot
Tyler White, 1B – Talk about a guy coming out of nowhere.  The 25-year old rookie was drafted in the 33^rd round of the 2013 draft, turned it on in the minors and has turned in to a starting spot, albeit possibly a placeholder before the #23^rd ranked prospect in the Top 100 Prospect for 2016 list, (A.J. Reed) gets called up.  Still, White is hitting .340 to start the season with 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.124 OPS!!

Jose Altuve, 2B – Not shocking that Altuve makes this list with his .310 average and 18 hits, but that 5 of those 18 hits are home runs.  Tack on 4 more doubles and 7 walks to get a 1.050 OPS, oh and Altuve has stolen 7 bases already

Luke Gregerson, CP – The only closer to make my list so far and for a couple reasons.  Yes he has not allowed a run yet this season, yes he has 4 saves, yes he has only allowed 1 hit (.063 avg against/0.60 WHIP), but more for the fact that he stepped up publically after the trade for Ken Giles who was to be the closer and said that he belonged in the role still and now backing it up.  Respect…

Dallas Keuchel, SP – Backing up his Cy Young last season, Keuchel is back at it with a 2-1 record through 3 starts and a 2.18 ERA.  Keuchel has walked an uncharacteristically 11 batters so far (1.21 WHIP), but has struck out 17 to limit the damage and given up just 14 hits (.192 average against)

Not
Carlos Gomez, OF – There are others that can be listed here, but Gomez is a star player and is hitting just .204 with 13 K’s and a .521 OPS

Mike Fiers, SP – Fiers is a strike out guy with nasty stuff; however he has just 11 in 16.2 innings of work to go along with his 12 earned runs (6.48 ERA), .319 average against, and 1.38 WHIP

Los Angeles Angels
Hot
Kole Calhoun, OF – Calhoun is leading the team in hitting (.315) and OPS (.799), but that’s not saying a lot as the Angels are currently a bit offensively challenged

Nick Tropeano, SP – Tropeano has allowed just one run in his two starts (0.84 ERA), however his average against (.262) and WHIP (1.41) suggest that his ERA may climb soon

Not
Albert Pujols, 1B – Pujols does have 2 homers and 10 RBI, however he also has just 9 hits, is hitting .158 and has struck out 10 times

Mike Trout, OF – Trout’s struggles for his talent level are concerning with a .259 average with 16 strike outs in 54 at bats and a .730 OPS, but there is little doubt that he won’t turn it around

Jered Weaver, SP – Weaver’s 4.35 ERA isn’t terrible, but his 81.3 mph fastball is getting hit around quite often as batters are hitting .326 off Weaver who has 5 K’s and 3 walks (1.65 WHIP)

Oakland Athletics
Hot
Billy Burns, OF – Billy Burns burst on to the MLB scene last year as a rookie and is off to another solid start this year leading the team in hitting (.310) and in OPS (.793) based on his 2 doubles and 2 triples.  Additionally, Burns is a speed threat and has 3 steals this season

Kendall Graveman, SP – Graveman is 1-1 and leading the A’s starters in ERA with a 2.04, with 15 K’s, .159 average against, and 0.91 WHIP

Not
Yonder Alonso, 1B – Alonso is hitting .130 with a .301 IOS with 6 hits in 46 at bats

Khris Davis, OF – Davis isn’t much better than Alonso, as he’s hitting .174 with a .420 OPS and 20 K’s

Seattle Mariners
Hot
Robinson Cano, 2B – There isn’t a Mariners batter with an average over .300, so choosing Cano (hitting .210) and his 5 home runs and 10 RBI

Felix Hernandez, SP – Somehow King Felix is 1-1, which is shocking with this offense.  He’s allowed 2 earned 3 starts (1.00 ERA) and has struck out 20 in 18 innings, but has walked 13 which raises his WHIP to 1.22.  He has been able to keep runners from scoring though with the strike outs and allowing hitters to bat just .138 against

Not
Kyle Seager, 3B – Seager is one of 7 Mariners hitters with 10 or more strike outs (12) this season and has 7 hits (2 doubles, 2 homers) for a .140 average and .546 OPS

Wade Miley, SP – Miley got rocked by Texas twice (allowing 11 runs total) and settled somewhat against Cleveland where he allowed 3 runs (8.04 ERA overall).  Opponents are hitting .388 against Miley and has a 1.91 WHIP

Texas Rangers
Hot
Elvis Andrus, SS – Andrus won’t hit for much power but he will get on base and has done it a bit to start with a .364 average and .840 OPS.  Andrus has no steals however and has been caught stealing 3 times

Nomar Mazara, OF – Called up the first week of the season, Mazara ranks as our #13 rated player in the Top 100 Prospects for 2016 and has not let fans down, homering in his first game and hitting .364 with a .895 OPS in 9 games so far

Derek Holland, SP – Holland gets the nod over Cole Hamels although Hamels is 3-0 and has a better ERA (2.52), however Holland is 2-0, has a 2.70 ERA and a better average against (.203) and WHIP (1.08)

Not
Ian Desmond, OF – Desmond has been a cluster bleep both at the plate and in the outfield (which is a new position).   Hitting, Desmond is batting .132 with an extra base hit (.358 OPS) and 16 K’s

Shawn Tolleson, CP – Well, here’s our second listed closer, but this time on bad start side.  Tolleson has saved 5 of 6 opportunities; however he has a 9.00 ERA, .333 average against, and 1.67 WHIP.  He sounds like the perfect closer for the Detroit Tigers to trade for…