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. 

player headshot
Vladimir Guerrero
TOR • LF • #27
View Profile

Vladito! Yes, Friday occasions the long-anticipated call-up of 20-year-old third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, the top prospect in all of baseball and one of the best hitting prospects of his generation. 

He's of course got the Hall of Fame bloodlines ... 

And he's got an unassailable record of dominating the competition in the minors despite being younger than his peer group at every stop (he faced exactly on pitcher who was younger, and that was in 2018 on a low-minors rehab assignment). Guerrero Jr. knows the strike zone, and he hits the ball hard. Those are two skills that should allow him to winnow down the typical learning curve for an MLB debutante. 

So what's the last debut to be as hyped and longed for as this one? You might have to go back to Bryce Harper's back in 2012, although Shohei Ohtani's last year is surely in the discussion. In any event, Vlad Jr. is going to remain part of the baseball zeitgeist no matter how the early days and weeks of his rookie campaign unfurl. 

Guerrero is indeed stepping into a proper environment for him. Thus far in 2019, teams are averaging 1.33 home runs per game, which is somewhat comfortably the highest figure in MLB history. As well, teams are averaging 3.48 walks per game, which is the highest such figure since 2000. Those are things -- i.e., hitting the ball over fencing and working his way to four-ball counts -- that young Vlad does very well. On top of all that, Rogers Centre, where the Jays will be this upcoming weekend for their series against Oakland, is a nice environment for right-handed power hitters, of which Vladito is one. 

The show -- and it will be a show either way -- starts Friday in Toronto. 

Joey Gallo
LF
BA.284
R18
HR8
RBI22
SB0

Gallo is just 25, but he's long been a rich source of power, and few hitters can crush the ball like he can. In 2019, Gallo seems to be leveling up. He's developed good patience at the plate, and he's topped 40 dingers in each of the last two seasons. Coming into this season, though, he was lugging around a career batting average of .203. Such a batting average will make old-schoolers think you stink even if you're, you know, drawing walks and hitting 40 spanks. 

This season, though, he's up to .284, and he's backed that up with an expected batting average of .307. Gallo's finding the barrel and crushing the ball. (He even recently notched his first career sac fly!) His average exit velocity of 99.1 mph this season is elite even among the elite, and he's hitting the ball hard almost two-thirds of the time. Our own Matt Snyder recently broke this down like a thing that has been broken down. 

Really, though, this is all about this: 

Starting this year, the winner of the derb gets a fat $1 million, and Gallo seems to like the sounds of that. Gallo is a rich source of power, and his BP sessions are appointment viewing. For instance, Mr. Gallo is capable of things like this: 

And that act of baseball violence isn't even his longest homer (he registered a 490-foot homer in August of 2017). There's no doubt that Gallo in the Home Run Derby could prompt those in attendance to clap their hands, stomp their feet, and shout unifying slogans into the Cleveland air. 

Regarding that tantalizing possibility, here's what Gallo said after declining an invitation to participate in the 2017 Home Run Derby: 

"I don't feel comfortable doing it right now in my career," he said. "I just want to put my head down and do what I need to do to get better. If I get a little more well-rounded as a hitter, I'd like to do it. But I'm not an All-Star and I respect that you should earn it. Others deserve it more than me.

"You look at what some of the other guys are doing and there are discrepancies there between us. I just don't feel like I belong at an event like that. And a bunch of upper cut swings right now, probably isn't what I need."

It's a good answer, at least insofar as polite refusals are concerned. Thus far in 2019, though, he's earned it and then some. Gallo is the current AL Player of the Week, you know! The hope here is that Gallo continues raking so that he has no choice but to launch a few balls 500-plus feet in exchange for one million unmarked dollar bills being kept in a suitcase in a locker at the bus station downtown.

player headshot
Christian Yelich
MIL • RF • #22
2019
BA0.326
R23
HR13
RBI31
SB3
View Profile

Christian Yelich has already been blessed with inclusion on this list, thanks to his magma-hot start to the season. Now, though, he's here for a different, lesser reason. Overall, Yelich is having one heck of a 2019 -- the 1.231 OPS and MLB-leading 13 homers tell you that much. Now, however, feast thine eyes upon these digits: 

YelichPABAOBPSLGOPSHRRBIBBSO

Home

63

.417

.540

1.271

1.811

13

29

14

6

Away

49

.227

.306

.273

.579

0

2

4

13

Those are Yelich's bestowals in road games this season. All 13 of his homers have come at Miller Park (which has been something of a Coors Field East of late), and 29 of his 31 RBI have come at home. His home OPS is more than 1,200 points higher than his road OPS. 

To be sure, it's way too early to make anything out of home-road splits, but the fact that Yelich at home has been peak Barry Bonds and on the road has been decline-phase Enzo Hernandez is getting some attention, especially coming off the sweep in St. Louis. 

Yelich is probably going to wind up finding his level both at home and on the road and may well wind up in the NL MVP discussion once again. Right now, though, the conversation surrounding the Milwaukee star has shifted from his early excellence to his inability to help his team away from Miller Park. 

player headshot
Jordan Hicks
BOS • RP • #46
2019
ERA2.61
K/911.3
WHIP1.065
S7
BS1
View Profile

The 22-year-old right-hander has served as closer for the first-place Cardinals this season, and as you can see above he's fared well. Hicks, though, is on this list because of his absurd velocity -- sinker velocity at that. Last season, Hicks joined Aroldis Chapman as the only pitchers to register 105 mph on the gun, and this year Hicks has further separated himself from the field. 

He's once again averaging better than 100 mph with his go-to sinker (his changeup checks in at 91 mph, by the way), but he's dominating the velo category like nothing we've ever seen before. Related content forthcoming: 

Last season, the two fastest pitches of the season belonged to Hicks. This season? This season so far, the eighteen fastest pitches belong to Hicks. Furthermore, 21 of the 22 fastest pitches of the season belong Hicks, as do 34 of the fastest 37. 

Relative to the field, that's unprecedented giddy-up, and that's why Hicks is on the Star Power Index for this week.