Judge, Beckham scorching

With May flowers on the horizon, players in the big leagues are looking to blossom, just as some are struggling with the change in seasons.

So let’s see whose numbers seem well grounded this week and who might be dust in the wind ( statistics through Sunday).

Sizzlers

OF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: What makes Judge’s solid start so intriguing is usually big guys ( he’s 6- 7) with big strike zones are easier to whiff. That Judge’s strikeoutto- walk ratio improved from 42: 9 in 2016 to 24: 13 in April makes his .303/. 411/. 750 slash line ( batting average/ on- base percentage/ slugging percentage) even more encouraging. SS Tim Beckham, Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays might have stuck with light- hitting Beckham this long largely to justify taking him No. 1 overall in the 2008 draft. Their faith might be paying off. He hit .272 in April with four homers — two in the last week — with eight RBI. OF Scott Schebler, Cincinnati Reds: Halfway through the month, Schebler was struggling with a .161 average with a .278 on- base percentage. He entered Monday on a tear, hitting .478 with five home runs and 11 RBI in a six- game stretch, securing his hold on a starting job. RP Bud Norris, Los Angeles Angels: It might be easy to assume Cam Bedrosian will reclaim the closer’s role when he returns from the disabled list, but the reality is Norris earned as many saves over the last week as Bedrosian has over his career. Yanking the hot hand might not be as simple as it seems. SP Ty Blach, San Francis

co Giants: Poor performances and freakish injuries plagued the team in April, but Blach ( who twirled seven scoreless innings Sunday) lowered his ERA to 2.55 and WHIP ( walks plus hits allowed per inning pitched) to 0.91 over 172⁄3 innings. He is the tonic for the injury to ace Madison Bumgarner, at least for the foreseeable future.

Fizzlers

SP Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs: At 33, Lester is getting older and has thrown more than 190 innings in every season since 2008. And, over his last couple of starts, he has been vulnerable, allowing 19 hits and 11 runs over 111⁄ innings. 3 SP Roberto Osuna, Toronto Blue Jays: It is hard to tell whether Osuna’s opening- day trip to the disabled list exacerbated the Jays’ poor start or the other way around, but the closer had three blown saves over four tries leading into last week. He has two conversions in a row, so perhaps the ship is righted, but trouble might plague Toronto beyond the season’s first month. OF Nomar Mazara, Texas Rangers: Mazara has three hits, with one RBI and three runs, since April 18, sending his average plummeting to .229. That means benching in a shallow mixed league and looking elsewhere in daily fantasy. SP Jharel Cotton, Oakland Athletics: He plugged rotation gaps caused by Sonny Gray’s and Kendall Graveman’s injuries. Both are back, and Jesse Hahn has pitched well enough that Cotton ( 5.00 ERA, 1.59 WHIP in 27 innings) could move to long relief or Class AAA Nashville for fine- tuning. SS Trevor Story, Colorado

Rockies: He burst onto the scene a year ago with an explosive 10- homer April. This year has been the opposite. He does have six homers, but he is hitting .178 with a paltry .282 onbase percentage, punctuated by 39 strikeouts and only 13 walks.