Three Up, Three Down: The MLB hot/cold report

Think of the best pitchers in the game today. Who comes to mind? Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer leads the league in wins (10) heading into the second full weekend of June. Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians is once again a Cy Young candidate. Justin Verlander is in the midst of a career resurgence with the Houston Astros.

All three of those Cy Young pitchers are proving their worth yet again, but don't sleep on Luis Severino. The 24-year-old guided the New York Yankees to wins over the Astros and Detroit Tigers over the past week, improving his record for the year to 9-1 in the process. Severino's lone defeat, and really his only rough outing of the season, was against the Boston Red Sox back on April 10. Depending on where you live, snow may have been falling from the sky that day.

Per Katie Sharp of River Ave. Blues and The Athletic NYC, Severino has the most starts (24) of one earned run or fewer since 2017. According to YES Network's Jack Curry, the right-hander has surrendered one earned run or fewer 24 times over his last 44 starts.

Edwin Encarnacion

On May 28 at Progressive Field, Cleveland Indians DH and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion punished the Chicago White Sox by going 2-for-4 from the plate with a home run, a double and four RBI. He was just getting started.

The 35-year-old began the final month of spring by winning AL Player of the Week honors for his performances at the dish. In total, Encarnacion blasted five homers, drove home 13 RBI, notched a pair of doubles and hit .407 (11-for-27) over the last week. As explained by Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, Encarnacion led the AL in HR, RBI, slugging percentage (1.037), extra-base hits and total bases from May 28 through June 3. He also scored nine runs over that period.

In Cleveland's 3-2 home win over the Milwaukee Brewers on June 5, Encarnacion picked up where he left off. He crossed home plate in the first inning to give the Tribe an early advantage, and he doubled in the bottom of the eighth.

Fans and their beers 

Baseball fans and cold beverages. It's a better love story than "Twilight" and a more iconic duo than any reality television siblings. Two different individuals reminded us of this over the past week.

In the bottom of the third inning of Saturday's contest between the Brewers and White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, a man seated on the left-field line found himself facing a difficult decision when a line drive headed his way. Should he drop his beer and go for the souvenir, or should he protect that which would quench his thirst?

He chose neither option, instead catching the ball with his left hand while retaining his drink and phone in his right. Fittingly, he celebrated with a chug that would make "Stone Cold" Steve Austin smile.

Not to be outdone was one Gabby DiMarco, identified by Jessica Kleinschmidt and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, who was enjoying Tuesday's tilt between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres when a foul ball bounced behind her before landing in her cup. DiMarco, the hero we need and deserve, downed her beer to the delight of those watching.

Cheers to you both.

Three Down

Clayton Kershaw

Sports leagues are better when stars are healthy and in lineups. It's why baseball fans with no allegiances to the Los Angeles Dodgers anticipated Clayton Kershaw's return to the bump on May 31 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium.

His comeback lasted a day.

Kershaw threw 62 pitches in five innings, and he returned to the disabled list because of a back injury that has plagued him over the past two seasons. According to ESPN, manager Dave Roberts immediately speculated his ace could miss an additional month of action.

The 30-year-old can opt out of his contract after this season, but neither he nor the Dodgers can think beyond September and October. This, realistically, could be Kershaw's last chance to win a title with Los Angeles, and the Dodgers are only two games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies for first in the AL West despite owning a losing record at present. For now, all the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the club can do is wait.

Mickey Callaway

Manager Mickey Callaway isn't the main reason the New York Mets plummeted down the NL East standings after the team's blistering 12-2 start. Try as he might, Callaway couldn't save Matt Harvey. He can't place starters such as Noah Syndergaard in protective bubbles on off days. He can't fix the aching hip of slugger Yoenis Cespedes, nor can he force the 32-year-old back into the lineup.

With that said, the first-time manager did himself no favors this past Sunday.

Following New York's 2-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs that secured the four-game sweep, Callaway said the following, per SNY.TV:

"Let's be honest, this is a tough place to play. New York is tough on players. It's tough on everybody. If they were in Cleveland or somewhere else, maybe they wouldn't feel that pressure, but you are playing in New York. We do play in New York. We have passionate fans that want to see a good ball club out there, so we have to do some things to get over that and make sure that we're focused every second of the day that we're out there."

Those fans Callaway discussed won't tolerate excuses from their team's manager in early June, and they certainly won't stomach even the thought that they are part of the problem.

Things get no easier for Callaway and the not-so-Amazins, as they host the red-hot New York Yankees this weekend.

Francisco Lindor

Cleveland Indians shortstop and future face of baseball Francisco Lindor won AL Player of the Month for the first time of his young career in May. As explained by Matt Kelly of MLB.com, the 24-year-old led all players in hits (44) and runs (27), and he batted .373 and tallied a 1.169 OPS.

Unfortunately for Frankie, numbers aren't everything.

During Sunday's game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, Lindor was preparing for an at-bat in the top of the fifth when he encountered an equipment malfunction. He repeatedly failed to get the donut off the bat before finally achieving his goal with the help of cement. Lindor was able to laugh about the matter during his stroll to the plate, and he earned a trip to first on a walk.

At least he didn't try to move the on-deck circle.