Welcome to week two of our ongoing catalog of the best hitters and pitchers of the week. In the first edition Adrian Gonzalez slugged 5 home runs on his way to top honors. Carlos Carrasco struck out 10 batters in 6.1 innings to earn his not. Today we’ll be highlighting two new players who provided us with the most impressive performances in week two of the season.
BEST HITTER: Nelson Cruz, OF/DH, Mariners
I wasn’t sure if we would see a player top Adrian Gonzalez all season. It just took a week for Nelson Cruz to do it. He hit .500/.556/1.250 (.743 wOBA, 391 wRC+) with 6 home runs. This is a great example of why you should overreact to small sample sizes. In the first week Cruz only had 5 hits in total.
Honorable Mention: Odubel Herrera, OF, Phillies
Triples are all the rage this year and Odubel Herrera led the pack in the second week with 2. He’s actually had a pretty good 2 weeks and he might get noticed more often if he weren’t playing for the Phillies.
MLB Leader:
AVG – Nick Markakis (.625)
OBP – Nick Markakis (.727)
SLG – Nelson Cruz (1.250)
wOBA – Nelson Cruz (.743)
wRC+ – Nelson Cruz (391)
HR – Nelson Cruz (6)
SB – Desmond Jennings (4)
fWAR – Nelson Cruz (1.0)
GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 05: Starting pitcher Andrew Cashner #34 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the spring training game at Camelback Ranch on March 5, 2014 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Best Pitcher of the Week: Andrew Cashner, Padres
This was a close one but I decided to go with Andrew Cashner. In two starts he threw 12 innings, allowed 0 runs, and struck out 14 batters. I really like Andrew Cashner. I think he has Cy Young potential if only he could stay healthy for a whole season.
Honorable Mentions: Jacob deGrom, Mets
I almost gave deGrom the top spot. He also started 2 games without giving up a run. Even pitched more innings than Cashner. I gave the nod to Cashner for his strikeouts. deGrom had 3 fewer.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Clayton Kershaw (48.0%)
BB% – 10 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Alfredo Simon (.080)
WHIP – Alfredo Simon (0.25)
ERA – 13 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Johnny Cueto (0.58)
xFIP – Clayton Kershaw (0.19)
fWAR – Jacob deGrom (0.6)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
