Welcome to week seven of our series recapping the best hitters and pitchers from the previous week. There are some familiar faces this week as a couple of pitchers continued to display their dominance both on the mound and at the plate!
BEST HITTER: Mike Napoli, 1B, Red Sox
Mike Napoli led the way this week thanks in large part to his 5 home runs. That’s two more than anyone else in that time span. He slashed 429/500/1.190. More weeks like this would go a long way towards pushing the Red Sox back into competition.
Honorable Mention: Last week this spot went to Jacob deGrom for his performance against Brewers pitching. It’s only fair they get their turn now. In a game against the Braves, with two runners on and two outs, catcher Martin Maldonado would be walked to bring starting pitcher Wily Peralta to the plate. He would end up drawing and RBI walk! Then later in that game reliever Michael Blazek would get his first major league hit, a RBI double.
MLB Leader:
AVG – Salvador Perez (.467)
OBP – Andrew McCutchen (.542)
SLG – Mike Napoli (1.190)
wOBA – Mike Napoli (.686)
wRC+ – Mike Napoli (352)
HR – Mike Napoli (5)
SB – Dee Gordon (5)
fWAR – Mike Napoli (0.8)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 21: Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of the game on September 21, 2014 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
BEST PITCHER: Corey Kluber, Indians
Last week Corey Kluber earned this spot by striking out 18 batters in one game. This week he gets here by continuing his dominance over two games. He did “only” strike out 19 batters over those two games, but he only allowed a run in each game. In his start against the White Sox he would pitch 9 innings with 12 strikeouts but get a no-decision which is all the proof you need to show that pitcher wins are meaningless. In his start against the Reds he did get the win, pitching 8 innings and striking out 7.
Honorable Mention: Jacob deGrom has completely reversed his poor start to the season. He now has a 2.75 ERA, 3.42 FIP, and 3.27 xFIP. That’s thanks to starts like his last one which came against the Cardinals. He pitched 8 innings walking none, allowing just one hit, no runs, and notching 11 strikeouts.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Jacob deGrom (44.0%)
BB% – 11 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Jacob deGrom (0.40)
WHIP – Jacob deGrom/Mike Bolsinger (0.13)
ERA – 11 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Jacob deGrom (0.40)
xFIP – AJ Burnett (0.91)
fWAR – Corey Kluber (0.9)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
