Welcome to the MLB Star Power Index -- a weekly temperature reading that tells us which players are owning the baseball conversation right now. While one's presence on this list is often a positive, it's not necessarily a good thing. It simply means that you're capturing the baseball world's attention for one reason or another. The players listed are in no particular order. Thanks to Brad Botkin and our compadres over at CBS NBA for letting us borrow the concept. 

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Bryce Harper
PHI • RF • #3
BA0.500
R5
HR3
RBI5
BB7
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Bryce Harper's Phillies tenure got underway for keeps this week, and already we've gotten a sampling of the peaks and troughs -- mostly peaks -- that will likely mark his next 13 years. In his debut, Harper went hitless with a pair of strikeouts, and by the end of his afternoon some Philly fans were playing to type: 

Not exactly a chorus of boos -- more like backing vocals from a drummer -- but they were there. In Harper's second game as a Phil, though, he broke through in vintage fashion with a massive blast. Shortly thereafter came the return trip to D.C., where Harper of course spent the entirety of his pre-2019 big-league career. 

Harper was booed, vigorously so -- even during the tribute video that the Nationals screened for the paying customers. He was booed as he approached the plate, and he was booed in right field. That's how these things tend to go, of course. Harper, though, got some late revenge in his old yard: 

Be sure to note the "this place still belongs to me" bat flip. Heck, let's appreciate that on its own:

Said bat flip led some to wonder whether the Nationals would undertake some kind of retaliation in the final game of the series. That didn't happen. What did happen is Harper authored a booming slash line of .500/.652/1.188 through the first five games of his Phillies career. If Harper had occupied the other, less fortunate end of the performance continuum through those first five games, you'd probably see some talk radio-grade takes on how he couldn't handle the pressure of playing in Philly under the weight of $330 million and all that. 

For now, though, Harper's tabled all of that talk. That's thanks to an almost perfect start to his Phillies-ness. 

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Christian Yelich
MIL • RF • #22
BA0.375
R7
HR4
RBI8
BB8
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Christian Yelich, as those who know know, barged to the NL MVP award. Most notably, Yelich slugged .598 (to lead the NL) and cranked 36 homers. Coming into 2018, he had a career slugging percentage of .432 and had never hit more than 21 home runs in a season. So ... skills growth in 2019 or aberration? 

A couple of things seemed to point in the latter direction. To wit, Yelich enjoyed that power spike despite continuing to show ground-ball tendencies, and -- in related matters -- he homered on 35 percent of his fly balls. Homering on 35 percent of one's fly balls is an absurd figure, and it strongly suggests a fluke-ish performance. That's why many observers, including this guy right here, predicted regression for Yelich in 2019. 

That may yet happen, as it's still absurdly early and sample sizes are still absurdly small. Thus far, though, Yelich hasn't shown any signs of letting up. At this writing, Yelich in 2019 has four home runs in 24 at-bats and twice as many walks as strikeouts. As well, the ball on average is leaving his bat at a career-best 92.9 mph. What's even more encouraging is that Yelich's average launch angle in the early going is 22.8 degrees, which is a figure much more amenable to consistent power outputs (his 2018 average launch angle was a meager 4.7 degrees). 

Again, we're but toe deep into the 2019 season, and all these trends could reverse in a hurry. Thus far, though, Yelich is looking like someone who's genuinely leveled up in terms of power. 

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Chris Sale
ATL • SP • #51
ERA8.00
WHIP1.44
IP9.0
BB4
HR4
K5
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Chris Sale is fresh off inking an extension with the Red Sox that will pay him at least $145 million from 2020-24. That's not counting the $15 million he's owed for this season. Obviously, Sale in his age-30 will be central to Boston's efforts to become the first back-to-back champs since the 1999-2000 Yankees. 

The problem is that Sale has been terrible thus far. For starters, he's allowed eight runs in nine innings spread across two starts, with five strikeouts against four walks (and four home runs allowed). Sale looked better in terms of run prevention in his second start of 2019, but he struck out only one batter in six innings. This was even more troubling: 

His velocity was down in his Opening Day start against Seattle, but as Mastrodonato notes at least he spiked to normal-ish levels. In his second start, however, his four-seamer averaged less than 90 mph for the game. Sure, velocity levels tend to be down in the cooler earlier weeks of the season, and some pitchers are dealing with a dead arm phase coming out of spring training. This, though, is looking like the early stages of something more troubling. That's especially the case when you consider how great Sale has been throughout his career and how important he is to the Red Sox. 

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Jacob deGrom
TEX • SP • #48
ERA0.00
WHIP.77
IP13.0
BB2
K24
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The reigning NL Cy Young winner Jacon deGrom hasn't let up through two starts in 2019. After 13 innings, he's yet to allow a run, and he's struck out 24 batters (!) against just two walks. He's struck out exactly half the batters he's faced. Please enjoy: 

And let's in particular appreciate this offering: 

Anyhow, deGrom has now ripped off 26 straight quality starts, which ties him with Bob Gibson (1967-68) for the most all-time. And this: 

The Mets and new GM Brodie Van Wagenen are all in on contending in 2019 after a very disappointing 2018. A necessary ingredient will be deGrom's being able to repeat or come close to repeating his 2018 excellence -- the excellence that moved the Mets to ink him to a $137.5 million extension. 

All that's well and good, but what really secures you a spot on the Star Power Index is striking out 14 batters in a start while also doing this: 

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Chris Davis
BAL • 1B • #19
AB17
BA0.00
R0
RBI1
SO11
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Chris Davis in 2018 batted .168/.243/.296 in 128 games, which is self-evidently miserable production for any player, let alone a first baseman. That was on the heels of a below-average 2017 and a 2016 in which he showed initial signs of decline. Davis so far in 2019? After facing James Paxton and the Yankees on Thursday, he's now 0 for 17 on the season with 11 strikeouts. Framed another way, Davis hasn't gotten a hit since Sept. 14 of last year, and he hasn't homered since Aug. 24. He's now hearing it from the hometown rooters: 

The longer view: 

This from a guy who once hit 53 homers in a season. The larger issue is Davis' contract. In January of 2016, Davis inked a seven-year, $161 million contract. While the contract was generally deemed questionable at the time, Davis was coming off an age-29 campaign in which he smashed 47 homers. From that point forward, though, things have methodically fallen apart. For a not-insignificant stretch of time, Davis has been the worst player in baseball, and he still has more than $80 million left on his contract. 

The O's are in rebuilding mode, which means they want to stockpile young talent. In that sense, Davis is sort of "helping" them by making them worse and improving their draft position. On another level, though, you have to believe they're playing him solely because of the contract. At these depths that's not healthy for anyone. Barring a reversal of fortune -- and there's little reason to believe that's possible -- the Orioles should eat the money left on Davis' contract and save him from all of this.