Josh Hamilton is, statistically speaking, the coldest hitter on the Texas Rangers. Bet you didn’t expect that statement to ever be true back in May.
The first two months of Hamilton’s season were otherworldly, as the Texas outfielder slugged .764 from opening day until May 30. Then the calendar turned to June and as the weather got warmer, Hamilton cooled off — he’s slugged just .401 since. Thus, Hamilton has been saddled with a 53 on Bill James’ temperature gauge, the lowest on the team.
As for the Red Sox, they’ve also had a star hitter cool off recently, though not nearly as dramtically. After Adrian Gonzalez won the American League Player of the Week for his efforts last week, he’s also cooled down a little bit, likewise seeing his temperature fall to 73. The Sox are actually lead by a couple players who just got healthy, as Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury pace Boston with identical readings of 83.
Here are the Boston and Texas temperature gauges for Tuesday, July 24.
Boston Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury 83
Dustin Pedroia 83
Adrian Gonzalez 76
Cody Ross 73
Kelly Shoppach 71
Nick Punto 69
Pedro Ciriaco 68
Ryan Sweeney 64
Mike Aviles 64
Will Middlebrooks 63
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 62
Carl Crawford 55
Daniel Nava 52
Texas Rangers
Craig Gentry 84
Ian Kinsler 81
Elvis Andrus 77
Alberto Gonzalez 73
Yorvit Torrealba 71
Mike Napoli 70
Michael Young 69
David Murphy 69
Adrian Beltre 69
Nelson Cruz 68
Brandon Snyder 65
Leonys Martin 58
Josh Hamilton 53
