High five
1. Chicago White Sox
Cooled down red-hot Tigers
2. Boston Red Sox
Pitching problems vs. Toronto
3. Cleveland Indians
First place in best division
4. New York Mets
Beating up on lowly Nationals
5. Oakland Athletics
Had rough series in Minnesota
Low five
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
Set new attendance low last week
27. Pittsburgh Pirates
Even celebrity fan rips team
28. Washington Nationals
Never retaliated against Pedro
29. Florida Marlins
Ended five-game losing streak
30. Kansas City Royals
Simply abused by Yankees
This week
Braves at Mets
The Mets, off to a great start, can make a statement in this three-game series, which starts Monday with Jorge Sosa (0-2) and Pedro Martinez (2-0) pitching.
Corner infielder
Powerful impression
Chris Shelton is far from a secret these days. But his old college coach at the University of Utah, Tim Esmay, hopes folks back home are taking notice.
"I think the state of Utah needs to understand what a special baseball player he is and always has been," said Esmay, now an assistant coach at Arizona State.
So far, it's been hard not to.
Nine games into the season, Shelton led the majors in home runs with seven. Thursday's edition of "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN pointed out that only Hall-of-Famer Mike Schmidt has reached seven home runs in fewer games. Through Thursday, Shelton was batting .514 and was slugging a major league-best 1.297.
The season is only two weeks old, and such bloated stats will eventually descend. But Esmay, who coached Shelton for one year at the U., is convinced his former player will continue to succeed.
"I don't look at this as a fluke," Esmay said. "This is a guy who's been doing this his whole life."
Shelton prepped at Cottonwood and played two years at Salt Lake Community College before joining the Utes. Esmay said he's now known as the coach who didn't start Shelton on opening day.
"That's kind of the running joke, now," Esmay said.
But Shelton did get in plenty of swings that year, hitting .374 and leading the conference with 19 home runs. He was named the Mountain West player of the year.
The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Shelton in the 33rd round of the 2001 draft, and he decided to skip his senior season and turn pro. Detroit acquired Shelton as a Rule 5 draft pick in 2003. Following the 2004 season, Shelton was named MVP of the Arizona Fall League.
His big break came at the end of May last season, when starting first baseman Carlos Pena struggled and was sent to the minors. Shelton stepped in and responded with a .299 average and 18 home runs in 2005.
"He did a good job of putting those numbers up early and did a good job of seizing the moment," Esmay said. "You could just kind of tell that he was on the fast track and not looking back."
Esmay said Shelton has always had a good knowledge of the strike zone and an ability to adjust.
"His demeanor is so confident," Esmay said. "He's so quiet at the plate . . . He knows he belongs, and he kind of carries himself that way. And that's how you survive."
But the biggest headline-maker on an up-and-coming Detroit team isn't affected by all the success, his former coach said.
"He's the same kid," Esmay said. "He's so grounded."
At this point, if the folks back home haven't caught on, they probably haven't been paying attention.
E-mail: ashill@desnews.com