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Early Increases For 25 Hitters
Authored by Christopher Reina - 12th April, 2010 - 12:55 pm

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Early Increases For 25 Hitters

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This is the time of the MLB season in which the common chorus is that we must fear the small sample size. The top-25 rankings in season OPS is a situation where this absolutely applies, considering Alex Gonzalez and his lifetime .693 OPS ranks 14th. But it is still interesting to examine the list of baseball's hottest hitters and the difference between their 2009 OPS and how they're hitting in 2010.

While some of baseball's biggest names such as Cabrera, Pujols and Mauer are already represented, players like Nelson Cruz and Vernon Wells simply need to sustain their production to join them on a more permanent basis.

Player, Team: 2010 OPS/2009 OPS, Percentage Increase
1. Nelson Cruz, TEX: 1.670/.856, 49%
2. Jeff Francoeur, NYM: 1.538/.732, 52%
3. Vernon Wells, TOR: 1.450/.711, 51%
4. Colby Rasmus, STL: 1.448/.714, 51%
5. Kelly Johnson, ARI: 1.426/.692, 51%
6. Miguel Cabrera, DET: 1.403/.943, 33%
7. Edgar Renteria, SFO: 1.345/.635, 53%
8. Russell Martin, LAD: 1.338/.681, 49%
9. Jorge Posada, NYY: 1.324/.885, 33%
10. Albert Pujols, STL: 1.319/1.101, 17%
11. Matt Holliday, STL: 1.291/.909, 30%
12. Magglio Ordonez, DET: 1.286/.804, 37%
13. Martin Prado, ATL: 1.274/.822, 35%
14. Alex Gonzalez, TOR: 1.269/.634, 50%
15. Ryan Howard, PHI: 1.257/.931, 26%
16. Jimmy Rollins, PHI: 1.255/.719, 43%
17. Rickie Weeks, MIL: 1.240/.857, 31%
18. Paul Konerko, CHW: 1.229/.842, 31%
19. Brad Hawpe, COL: 1.224/.903, 26%
20. Ian Stewart, COL: 1.206/.786, 35%
21. Josh Willingham, WAS: 1.204/.863, 28%
22. Placido Polanco, PHI: 1.204/.727, 40%
23. Dustin Pedroia, BOS: 1.193/.818, 31%
24. Vladimir Guerrero, TEX: 1.187/.794, 33%
25. Joe Mauer, MIN: 1.167/1.031, 12%

Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. Click here to follow his Twitter feed.