Don Webster is away this week, so I am filling in here, and our spotlight this week will run through who is hot and who is not in the National League on a team-by-team basis.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Hot: Chris Young is quite happy that the calendar has flipped. After hitting .226 with five home runs and 13 RBI in April, Young is hitting .304 with three home runs and six RBI through 11 games in May. Sometimes even those playing in the desert need to wait for the weather to warm up.

Not: Mark Reynolds however misses April. While he was not exactly hitting for a great average, he was at least hitting for power. This month, neither average nor power. In the first eleven games this month, Reynolds is hitting .195 with no home runs and only four RBI in 41 at-bats.

Atlanta Braves

Hot: Kelly Johnson is notoriously streaky, and he is in a hot stretch right now. This month, Johnson is hitting .333; slightly less than 100 points better than he did last month, with three RBI, five runs, and a stolen base.

Not: Looking for saves out of Manny Acosta? His last save opportunity came way back on April 24. He has not pitched horribly, but saves simply are not coming.

Chicago Cubs

Hot: Carlos Marmol has made five appearances this month and has been brilliant in all five. For May, Marmol is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, with only two hits and one walk allowed in 6 2/3 innings, and he has struck out nine.

Not: After hitting .307 in April, Mark DeRosa is hitting only .235 this month, with his last home run having come way back on April 15.

Cincinnati Reds

Hot: Edinson Volquez continues to improve as the season goes on, and he was not bad to begin with. Volquez has rolled off five consecutive quality starts and he has yet to allow more than one earned run in any start this year.

Not: Johnny Cueto is not ready, regardless of what the Reds want to insist, as he has made just two quality starts in his last six. In that time, his ERA has risen from 2.03 to 5.91.

Colorado Rockies

Hot: Clint Barmes has shown the Rockies that they were wrong for having given up on him when they did. Since resuming a spot in the starting lineup, albeit at second rather than short, Barmes has been one of the offensive leaders of the club. Over the last eleven games, Barmes is hitting .424 with three RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base.

Not: The positive for Willy Taveras is that he has four stolen bases this month. The negative though is that he has done so with a .125 batting average.

Florida Marlins

Hot: Is there a hotter second baseman in the league right now than Dan Uggla? Uggla is hitting .390 in May, with eight home runs, seventeen RBI, and sixteen runs scored. His OPS is a robust 1.553 so far in May.

Not: Wes Helms is still getting at-bats, but one has to wonder why. This month, Helms is hitting just .161, although at least he has one home run and three RBI.

Houston Astros

Hot: The story for the Astros this month would have been Hunter Pence with his .359 batting average, three home runs, 12 RBI, and seven runs scored. Oh, and he stole three bases too. The only problem is, he cannot be the story, thanks to that headline hog Lance Berkman. All Berkman is doing this month is hitting .619 with five home runs, thirteen RBI, sixteen runs scored, and two stolen bases.

Not: Michael Bourn is doing a great job of stealing bases when he gets on base. It is just a shame that he is doing such a lousy job of getting on base. Bourn is hitting only .178 this month, with a .240 OBP.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Hot: With everyone else injured, the Dodgers have been forced to turn to Blake DeWitt at third base. Can they really take the job away from him at this point? Since the start of May, DeWitt is hitting .406 with two home runs, seven RBI, and eight runs scored.

Not: One prospect not working out is Chin-lung Hu, who is hitting only .154 with no homers, two RBI, and one run scored in 26 at-bats.

Milwaukee Brewers

Hot: Ryan Braun is doing his best to carry the Brewers this month. In 12 games, Braun is hitting .340 with six home runs, eleven RBI, and nine runs scored.

Not: The closer for the Brewers is who again? We were told it was not Éric Gagné, as he had done everything possible to lose it, but then he went and recorded a save yesterday. If not he, then who? Guillermo Mota? Salomon Torres? David Riske? No one really knows at this point.

New York Mets

Hot: Three starts, three wins, a 1.77 ERA, and a 0.84 WHIP – I think that is enough to qualify John Maine as “hot.”

Not: The Washington Nationals taunted him – and, really, that is about as low as one can get – and he was waxed in his two starts. Nelson Figueroa has since been demoted, ending a horrific month. Wait, no, that did not end it – the Nationals mocked his demotion too. Cold, but true.

Philadelphia Phillies

Hot: Brad Lidge finally allowed a run to score, but he still picked up a save, and he has yet to blow one with the Phillies. In the debate of whether it was him or the Astros that was to blame for his failings, we can safely rule him out at this point.

Not: Kyle Kendrick has the best ERA for a starter this month, at 4.50. He is the only one with an ERA even remotely respectable too.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Hot: This is hot with a caveat – Zach Duke is 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA in his last three starts, but he has also walked (10) more than he has struck out (7) in those three. It is success, but the ratio says it is likely fleeting…

Not: Paul Maholm is coming off a pair of rough starts, as he has opened the month 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and 1.191 WHIP in two starts. In 11 innings, Maholm has struck out only six while walking five.

San Diego Padres

Hot: While few on the Padres can hit, Adrian Gonzalez mercifully can. In 12 games, Gonzalez is hitting .320 with four home runs, ten RBI, and nine runs scored in 50 at-bats.

Not: The rest of the Padres’ hitters. The rest of the team this month has six homers, with Khalil Greene and his .200 batting average accounting for three of them. As a club, the Padres are hitting .249 this month, which plummets even further if you take Gonzalez out.

San Francisco Giants

Hot: The incredibly-streaky John Bowker is on a hot streak again, as he is hitting .458 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs scored in 24 at-bats. Ride it while you can, but when the cold hits, it is very, very cold…

Not: Eugenio Velez continues to get at-bats, but one has to wonder why. This month, in 29 at-bats, Velez is hitting just .103 with one RBI and three runs scored. He has walked four times, bringing his OBP all the way up to .212 – sad when a 100-point jump in OBP over batting average results in a similarly pathetic number.

St. Louis Cardinals

Hot: Albert Pujols being hot is a no-brainer. Ryan Ludwick being hot is plausible. Yadier Molina, though? Shockingly, Molina is indeed hot, hitting .324 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs scored in 37 at-bats this month.

Not: If Troy Glaus had more than one home run this month, that might make the .161 batting average for May more palatable. However, he does not.

Washington Nationals

Hot: Can Cristian Guzman still keep hitting? It certainly is out of character. This month, Guzman is hitting .306 with one home run, eight RBI, and eleven runs scored in 49 at-bats.

Not: Lastings Milledge started the season hot, but that has not lasted – a .195 batting average in the month of May does not scream hot at all.