Dustin Pedroia Back in Swing of Things as Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox’ Hottest Hitter Remains on Bench

Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.

Jacoby Ellsbury continues to remain sidelined by some cryptic "situation" which won't allow him to play, and that's unfortunate for the Red Sox as they open their second-to-last series of the year, being that the center fielder remains the hottest hitter in the Sox' lineup.

That being said, Dustin Pedroia is right on his heels, as over his last five games the second baseman has gone 7-for-19 with three doubles, living up to his billing as the "laser show."

Since coming back from missing a few games to be with his family for the birth of his second child, Pedroia had cooled down significantly after a hot stretch that lasted the better part of August and first couple weeks of September. However, Pedroia looks to be right back on track, and though some hand issues early in the season have tempered his overall numbers a bit, for most of the season Pedroia has been his same old self with the bat.

Behind those two, the hottest hitters in the Red Sox clubhouse are those seeing irregular-to-sporadic playing time, save for Scott Podsednik, who's seen a lot of time in center field and the leadoff role with Ellsbury riding the pine. James Loney also continues to show a hot glove at first base, but a lukewarm bat at the plate.

For the Orioles, Chris Davis clocks in red hot, posting a .959 OPS over 93 plate appearances in September. Behind him, rookie Manny Machado has been a revelation at third base, not just solidifying the position but adding another weapon to Baltimore's arsenal.

Check out the temperatures for both the Red Sox and Orioles for Friday, Sept. 28 below:

Boston Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury 81
Dustin Pedroia 78
Ryan Kalish 73
Guillermo Quiroz 72
Mike Aviles 71
Scott Podsednik 70
James Loney 68
Danny Valencia 66
Che-Hsuan Lin 65
Ivan De Jesus 64
Mauro Gomez 62
Daniel Nava 61
Cody Ross 60
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 58
Pedro Ciriaco 54
Jose Iglesias 50
Ryan Lavarnway 48

Baltimore Orioles
Chris Davis 92
Manny Machado 83
Nate McLouth 78
J.J. Hardy 74
Ryan Flaherty 73
Luis Exposito 72
Nick Markakis 72
Matt Wieters 72
Bill Hall 72
Xavier Avery 71
Wilson Betemit 71
LJ Hoes 70
Taylor Teagarden 70
Steve Tolleson 69
Lew Ford 68
Jim Thome 68
Adam Jones 66
Mark Reynolds 66
Omar Quintanilla 66
Robert Andino 63
Endy Chavez 60