Welcome to week four of our ongoing catalog of the best hitters and pitchers of the week. Last week, the home run continued to reign supreme as it propelled Mark Teixeira to the top offensive spot. On the pitching side, 16 strikeouts across 2 scoreless outings earned Chris Archer the nod. Today we’ll be highlighting two new players who provided us with the most impressive performances in week three of the season.
BEST HITTER: Josh Reddick, OF, Athletics
This is the first week where home runs didn’t propel someone head and shoulders above anyone else. Instead Josh Reddick simply stayed hot for Oakland slashing .478/.538/.913. He only struck out once in twenty-six plate appearances, which is impressive in today’s offensive environment. He did hit 3 home runs which helped him drive in 12 runs which was the top mark. He came in second with 8 runs scored himself.
Honorable Mention: Brewers fans have a lot on their minds. Their team is pretty much dead in the water. A lot of players are under-performing. Ron Roenicke was just fired last night and in short order Craig Counsell will be named the new manager. One thing that they might not have to worry about for much longer is Ryan Braun, who had been one of those under-performers. In a game against the Cubs on Friday he hit 2 home runs. One of those was a grand slam to straight away center.
MLB Leader:
AVG – Dee Gordon (.667)
OBP – Dee Gordon (.682)
SLG – Evan Gattis (1.000)
wOBA – Josh Reddick (.610)
wRC+ – Josh Reddick (300)
HR – Evan Gattis (5)
SB – Jacoby Ellsbury/George Springer (5)
fWAR – Jose Altuve/Jason Kipnis (0.8)
MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 19: Mike Fiers #50 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during the Interleague game at Miller Park on August 19, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
Best Pitcher of the Week: Mike Fiers, Brewers
James Shields had the most strikeouts in this 7 day period with 19. He logged those strikeouts in 11.1 IP across two starts. Mike Fiers struck out 12 batters in just 6 innings against a respectable Cubs offense. The only run on the board was a solo home run by Addison Russell (who had him getting his first HR before Kris Bryant?). His season had been pretty rocky up until that point. But if you go back to his last start at Wrigley you’ll find he rather quite likes pitching there. In that outing he struck out 14 batters in 6 innings!
Honorable Mentions: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
Rivalries are always fun and the Dodgers and Giants are a strong one. In this outing Madison Bumgarner helped propel his team to a victory. He pitched 8 strong innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk to go along with 9 strikeouts. I’m always interested to see how a pitcher will respond when he has face the same offense in short order and this was back-to-back starts for Bumgarner. The second being the better of the two.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Mike Fiers (52.2%)
BB% – 11 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Tim Hudson (.080)
WHIP – Time Hudson/Mike Leake (0.50)
ERA – 13 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Lance Lynn (0.70)
xFIP – Mike Fiers (0.58)
fWAR – Anibal Sanchez (0.6)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
