Team Heat Check: Cleveland Guardians Run Hot, Colorado Rockies Run Cold (MLB)

Every MLB season has a week when the temperature map redraws itself, and this feels like one of them. Cleveland Guardians have become the team nobody wants to see next on the schedule, while Colorado Rockies are hunting for anything that resembles a good night.

Burning up

Cleveland Guardians own the league's best recent ledger at 9-1, and the +23 runs margin underneath it says the record is earned. Per game the numbers read 5.8 for and 3.5 against, a gap that does not happen by accident across 10 games.

San Diego Padres are the closest thing to company at 8-2, with a +19 runs margin that says the record is no fluke.

And do not sleep on Milwaukee Brewers, quietly 8-2 across their last 10.

For scale, the league as a whole is averaging 4.3 runs a game over this window, Cleveland Guardians are clearing that bar by 1.5 a night all on their own.

The deep freeze

Then there is Colorado Rockies. A 2-8 stretch is ugly on its own; pair it with a -26 runs margin and it stops looking like bad luck. They are being outscored by about 2.6 runs a game, and no scheduling quirk explains that away.

Kansas City Royals are not far behind on the misery index at 2-8.

In between the extremes it gets crowded, Texas Rangers at 5-5 and Seattle Mariners at 5-5 are basically sharing a seat, and the next series either way will split them.

By the numbers

Here is the warm half of the form table, last ten games for every club:

One more thing

Records fib a little and runs margins fib less. When the two columns disagree about a team, trust the margin, it is the slower liar.

Next up on the slate: Cleveland Guardians against Kansas City Royals. Check back after that one goes final.