Welcome to Week 23 of our ongoing series the best hitting and pitching performances from the previous week. This time around we have a little known prospect making a lot of noise and a superstar on a team going out with a whimper. On the pitching side we’re featuring two guys who have big potential. One is on a rocky road to recovery and the other just hasn’t lived up to expectations.
BEST HITTER: Tommy Pham, OF, Cardinals
Tommy Pham went through the minors as an unheralded prospect not even ranking in FanGraphs top prospect list for the Cardinals system. So far though he’s hitting like he was a first rounder. In 141 plate appearances at the major league level he’s slashed .278/.355/.504. This past week he led baseball in slugging percentage and weighted runs created plus. He pretty much single-handedly routed the Brewers for St. Louis. In two games, he got six hits including two home runs and twotriples.
Honorable Mention: Bryce Harper was a close second to Pham with a 338 wRC+. Try as he might his team is very likely dead in the water. The Nationals are now six games back of the Mets and nine games out of the wild card race. It seems unfathomable how a team with the talent this teams has. One has to imagine a lot of changes to the teams coaching staff are coming after such a disastrous season.
MLB Leader:
AVG – Shin-Soo Choo (.520)
OBP – Shin-Soo Choo (.636)
SLG – Tommy Pham (1.150)
wOBA – Bryce Harper (.669)
wRC+ – Tommy Pham (339)
HR – Bryce Harper (5)
SB – Elvis Andrus (4)
fWAR – Bryce Harper (1.1)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 15: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals throws a pitch in the bottom of the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 15, 2015 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
BEST PITCHER: Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
Strasburg has been something of a disappointment this season with a 3.81 ERA. He’s always had the tag of a MLB ace attached to him but hasn’t quite gotten to that level yet. This past week that’s exactly what he was though. He led baseball–along with teammate Gio Gonzalez– in strike out rate. He also lead pitchers in fWAR. He did this by tossing 15.0 innings and allowing just two runs while striking out a whopping 24 batters. Unfortunately it’s probably too late for the Nationals.
Honorable Mention: It’s been a tough road back to full health for Matt Moore. He’s pitching this season for the first time after having Tommy John surgery. In 9 starts back he has a dismal 7.06 ERA. However he was a great deal better this past week in his start against the Orioles. Moore threw 7 scoreless innings allowing just 2 hits and no walks. He also struck out 9. It was a good thing to see from a pitcher with the potential Moore possesses.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Stephen Strasburg/Gio Gonzalez (44.4%)
BB% – 9 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Alex Wood (0.40)
WHIP – Alex Wood (0.13)
ERA – 11 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Matt Moore (0.58)
xFIP – 3 players tied (1.13)
fWAR – Strasburg (0.8)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
