Welcome the thirteenth week of our ongoing series highlighting the previous weeks best hitting and pitching performances. This week we feature 3 hitters: One a player passed up by 29 clubs when cheaply available, one a superstar who isn’t close to hitting his prime, and an aged veteran in his last season. We also highlight a reemerging ace and an ace who might get traded this month.
BEST HITTER: J.D. Martinez, OF, Tigers
Martinez was a Houston Astros product until they released him in March of 2014. Any team could have claimed when the Astros put him on waivers. Teams could have even drafted him during the Rule 5 draft that December. No one did until the Tigers signed him to a minor league deal two days after he became a free agent. He rewarded them with a 4.0 fWAR season in 2014 hitting .315/.358/.553. This year he’s hit .285/.340/.563. This past week he was MLB’s best hitting going .458/.500/1.000 with 4 home runs. He netted 0.8 fWAR this week which also lead baseball.
Honorable Mention(s): Bryce Harper didn’t hit a ton of home runs this week. Instead he drew a ton of walks (23.7 BB%). When he’s at his best he’s doing both. This week he came in second in wRC+ thanks in large part to his plate discipline. In fact, he walked more than he struck out.
Normally I just do one honorable mention but I think Aramis Ramirez deserves a hat tip. The Brewers third baseman is in the final season of his career and it’s been a rough one so far (.244/.288/.438). He’s been a name in some trade talks but his poor performance has left clubs wary. However that could change over the next month. He’s been heating up over the last 30 days (.301/.333/.537). This past week he led baseball in both batting average and on-base percentage. If he keeps that up he should at least be movable during the August waiver trade period if not by the July 31st waiver trade deadline.
MLB Leader:
AVG – Aramis Ramirez (.545)
OBP – Aramis Ramirez (.577)
SLG – JD Martinez (1.000)
wOBA – JD Martinez (.628)
wRC+ – JD Martinez (318)
HR – 3 players tied (4)
SB – Cesar Hernandez/Billy Hamilton (5)
fWAR – JD Martinez (0.8)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 13: Clay Buchholz #11 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on July 13, 2014 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
BEST PITCHER: Clay Buchholz, Red Sox
The Red Sox have been in need of an ace for their pitching staff but they might have one in the reemerging Clay Buchholz. He has a 3.27 ERA and 2.55 FIP on the season. This past week might have been his best all year. He faced two potent offenses in the Blue Jays and Astros. In total he threw 17 innings allowing just 1 run to each club. He threw a complete game against the Astros. While his 13 strike outs is a bit modest he didn’t allow a single walk and only gave up 11 hits.
Honorable Mention: Speaking of aces, Cole Hamels also put together 2 impressive starts. He faced lesser competition though in the form of the Brewers and Braves. He went 7 innings in each game and while he shut out the Braves he allowed 2 runs to Milwaukee. He also only allowed 11 hits but he did walk one Brewers. In those 14 innings he earned 12 strike outs.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Corey Kluber (45.2%)
BB% – 16 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Carlos Carrasco (0.038)
WHIP – Taijuan Walker (0.17)
ERA – 17 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Corey Kluber (-0.04)
xFIP – Corey Kluber (0.31)
fWAR – Clay Buchholz (0.8)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
