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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Dee Gordon leads all of baseball in stolen bases and is hitting .404 to start the season. (Jae C. Hong/AP)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The\u00A0Pirates' Edinson Volquez will take the mound against the Brewers on Thursday nigh with a 1.29 ERA. That figure comes as a mild surprise,\u00A0given that Volquez has posted a 5.09 ERA over the last three seasons, but it's also come over just 14 innings across\u00A0two starts and one relief appearance on the young season. A\u00A0lot of unexpected\u00A0things can happen over the course of two weeks of baseball. When it happens at midseason as just a small part of the larger season, we tend not to notice. However, when those two weeks comprise the entire season to date, as they do in mid-April, those fluky performances\u00A0are hard to ignore. Here, then, are 10\u00A0of the most unexpected\u00A0performances from the first two weeks of the 2014 baseball season, listed in order of OPS and ERA.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Charlie Blackmon, CF, Rockies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats: &lt;/strong&gt;.442/.464/.635, 5 2B, 9 RBI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On April 4, Blackmon went 6-for-6 with three doubles, a home run, five RBIs and four runs scored. That performance greatly padded his opening week\u00A0statistics, but in 39 plate appearances since, he has hit .389/.410/.500 (albeit with only three more extra-base hits). The 27-year-old Blackmon hit .309/.336/.467 in 258 plate appearances last year and has Coors Field to his advantage, so he may wind up putting up solid numbers over the season as a whole. Still, don't expect him to finish the season ranked where he is now in OPS (1.099, fourth in the majors) or batting average (second).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NIESEN: Even Blackmon isn't sold by\u00A0his red-hot start&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dee Gordon, 2B, Dodgers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;.404/.453/.553, 10 SB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Formerly the team's shortstop of the future, Gordon, who turns 26 next week, hit .229/.289/.285 in 436 plate appearances over the last two seasons and was not expected to be a regular this season. He only drew the start\u00A0at second base in the second game in Australia because Cuban signee Alexander Guerrero had failed to win the position in camp and there happened to be a righthanded pitcher on the mound that day. Gordon went 3-for-4 with a double in that game, a 7-5 Dodgers win, and has run away with the second base job since. He\u00A0leads the majors with 10 stolen bases, which have come in just 11 attempts and only\u00A013 games, but his speed was never\u00A0in doubt. It's that batting line, which has been inflated by a .450 batting average on balls in play, that is the fluke. With Guerrero off to an even hotter start in Triple A -- 8-for-13 with two doubles and two homers -- it may not be long before he takes over the job for good.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yangervis Solarte, 3B, Yankees&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats: &lt;/strong&gt;.348/.434/.478, 6 2B, 7 RBI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first surprising thing 26-year-old journeyman Solarte did this spring was beat out Eduardo Nu\u00F1ez for the Yankees' utility infielder job.\u00A0He then went 3-for-3 with a double and a walk in his first major league start and 2-for-5 with two doubles the next day in a\u00A0game in which Mark Teixeira landed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain. That injury\u00A0required Kelly Johnson to move from third base to first base, opening up the hot corner for Solarte, who has started every game for New York\u00A0since.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Solarte hit .282/.332/.404 in the Pacific Coast League over the last two years,\u00A0and should eventually\u00A0see his performance this year settle down around that level, but with the age and fragility of the Yankees' infield, that level of production could be enough\u00A0for Solarte to remain a regular in their lineup all year, or at least until they acquire outside help.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chris Colabello, RF/DH, Twins&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;.306/.346/.490, 6 2B, 15 RBI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Colabello is more than just the AL's surprising leader in RBIs. He's also a 30-year-old sophomore who\u00A0spent seven years in\u00A0the independent Canadian-American Association before signing with Minnesota in February 2012. \u00A0Last year, Massachusetts native\u00A0Colabello starred for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic and made his major league debut, but he hit just\u00A0.194 for the Twins in a season most memorable for his late May wardrobe mix-up. He\u00A0entered this season on\u00A0the short side of a lefty/righty platoon with lefthanded-hitting Jason Kubel (also off to a hot start after a disastrous 2013 season), but five hits in his first 10 at-bats and subsequent\u00A0injuries to outfielders Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham have resulted in Colabello becoming the Twins' everyday cleanup hitter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't be surprised if Colabello keeps it up. He\u00A0caught Minnesota's attention with a .317/.390/.514 career line in independent ball and hit .352/.427/.639 with 24 home runs in 391 plate appearances in Triple A last year. He's not going to lead the AL in doubles and RBIs, as he is now, but he's proven himself capable of putting up a batting line even better than his small sample performance\u00A0so far.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aaron Harang, RHP, Braves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;2-1, 0.96 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 2.83 K/BB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was hard to figure out\u00A0why the Braves preferred Harang to Freddy Garcia when they set their rotation at the end of camp, but it's even harder to argue with the results. Harang has thrown six or more innings in each of his three starts this season and allowed no more than one run in any of them. He struck out nine Mets two turns ago, and his other two starts came against the Brewers, whom he no-hit for six-plus innings, and Nationals, hardly pushover teams. His only loss came in a game in which the Braves were shut out. The regression will come, but, as I wrote last week, Atlanta only needs\u00A0Harang's success to last until Mike Minor and Gavin Floyd\u00A0are ready to come off the disabled list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; 30-year-old Jesse Chavez is making the most of his starting opportunity in Oakland. (Beck Diefenbach/AP)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Michael Pineda, RHP, Yankees&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;2-1, 1.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 5.00 K/BB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pineda is the most talented player on this list. His performance over his first three starts\u00A0wouldn't even qualify as a surprise if it had happened\u00A0in April 2012. Coming after two years of injury and rehab, however, it's easily one of the most surprising performances of the young season, and one of the best stories, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Robbie Ross, LHP, Rangers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 1.63 K/BB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With their rotation wrecked by injuries this spring, the Rangers decided to fill two spots by converting two of their best relief pitchers from a year ago, righty Tanner Scheppers and lefty Robbie Ross, into starters. That hasn't gone\u00A0particularly well so far\u00A0for Scheppers, who has a 7.88 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. For Ross, who had far more experience starting in the minors, however, the conversion is going well. Since\u00A0striking out seven Phillies in a Texas win in his first start of the season, Ross has allowed just one unearned run in 13 innings over his last two starts against the Red Sox and Mariners, throwing 7 2/3 scoreless frames in Arlington against the M's on Tuesday night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ross's peripherals have been all over the place, however. He walked six Boston batters\u00A0in his second start, and\u00A0though he\u00A0didn't issue any free passes\u00A0on Tuesday, he had as many hit batters (2) as strikeouts in that game. The jury remains out on Ross, but, at the very least, he should outlast Scheppers in the Rangers\u00A0rotation as the team's injured pitchers return to claim their spots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alfredo Simon, RHP, Reds&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;1-1, 1.20 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 5.00 K/BB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pressed into action in Cincinnati's\u00A0rotation by Mat Latos' injuries, Simon has been fantastic in his first two starts. In fact, he's the only pitcher to make this list without having made at least three starts (his next turn comes against the Cubs on Friday). Both of Simon's\u00A0outings this year have lasted at least seven innings and both saw him allow just one run and one walk, giving up three fewer hits than innings pitched.\u00A0In his last start, he worked eight innings against the Rays\u00A0and\u00A0allowed only two men to reach third base.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Given that Simon\u00A0will turn 33 in early May and before this year hadn't made a major league start since 2011, when he went 3-8 with a 4.96 ERA in 16 starts for the Orioles, he may not be a good bet to keep this pace up. But with Latos recently diagnosed with\u00A0flexor mass strain in his\u00A0pitching elbow, the Reds may have to hope he\u00A0can.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jesse Chavez, RHP, A's&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;0-0, 1.35 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 11.00 K/BB&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chavez entered A's camp this year as a 30-year-old journeyman reliever on his\u00A0seventh professional organization who had made just two starts in six major league seasons and owned a career ERA+ of 74. However, he had been used primarily as a starter in Triple A over the previous two seasons, showing solid results thanks to the development of a cut fastball, improved control and\u00A0a veteran's ability to\u00A0mix his pitches. Thus, when Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin opened the season on the disabled list, Chavez, who\u00A0had a great spring working as a starter, landed the final spot in Oakland's\u00A0rotation. The results thus far speak for themselves: Three quality starts, with each of the last two featuring nine strikeouts against no walks in seven innings and just one earned run allowed. Chavez might be for real, giving the A's a major find if he is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roenis Elias, LHP, Mariners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Season Stats:\u00A0&lt;/strong&gt;1-1, 2.16 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 1.67 K/BB\nElias was the beneficiary of Randy Wolf's refusal to sign a\u00A045-day advanced-consent release form. Wolf won the final spot in Seattle's rotation in March, but his refusal to sign\u00A0the release form resulted in his being let go, passing that job to 25-year-old rookie Elias, who has thus far run with it. Elias, who defected from Cuba four years ago, was not considered a prospect coming into the season and had not pitched above Double A since signing with the Mariners in May 2011, but he had a solid spring and has thus far acquitted himself admirably through three major league starts. Unlike Chavez, however, Elias's performance, both in the spring and the regular season, doesn't carry many encouraging signifiers. He's not striking out many batters, his control isn't anything special, he's not generating an excess of ground balls and he has been lucky on balls in play. Of course, all of the above pitchers have been lucky on balls in play, but only Harang and Simon, proven veteran mediocrities, have BABIPs lower than Elias's .222 thus far.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/strike-zone/2014/04/17/surprising-hot-starts-2014-mlb-season>