It’s been a couple weeks since our last feature due to the All-Star break but we’re back with our 15th installment highlighting the best hitters and pitchers from the previous week in baseball. On the offense side of things we feature a couple of players whose production has been less than expected all season. We also feature two of the best pitchers in baseball including one that might be on the move this week.
BEST HITTER: Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Rockies
The Rockies outfielder recently found himself amidst some trade rumors. I even wrote about how I don’t think his value is high enough right to warrant a trade. CarGo certainly did his best this past week to amend that situation. More weeks like this and he could be on his way out of Colorado!
He hit .476/.522/1.190 (353 wRC+). He led baseball with 5 home runs. His slugging percentage was also a MLB best for the week. He tied with 3 others for the best fWAR (0.8). That might not seem like much but his total fWAR on the season is 1.6. So half of that came last week.
Honorable Mention: Ian Desmond has been struggling this season as well. So much so that by FanGraphs WAR metric he’s been worth negative wins this year (-0.2). That’s pretty bad but this past week he was worth 0.8 fWAR so not that long ago it was even worse. He hit .478/.522/1.000 this week. Nationals can only hope it’s a sign of things to come.
MLB Leader:
AVG – 4 players tied (.500)
OBP – Joey Votto (.636)
SLG – Carlos Gonzalez (1.190)
wOBA – Carlos Gonzalez (.707)
wRC+ – Carlos Gonzalez (353)
HR – Carlos Gonzalez (5)
SB – 5 players tied (3)
fWAR – 3 players tied (0.8)
MIAMI, FL – SEPTEMBER 23: Cole Hamels #35 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the third inning of the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on September 23, 2014 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
BEST PITCHER: Cole Hamels, Phillies (for now)
Cole Hamels has been a major trade piece for the Phillies for what seems like ages. On Saturday he made what may be his final start as a Philadelphia Philly and he made sure it was spectacular. His opponent would be the Chicaco Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Some history first. The last time the Cubs were no-hit was Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965. They went 7,920 games without being no-hit after the perfect game.
Enter Cole Hamels. He pitched 9 complete innings allowing just two walks (both to Dexter Fowler) ending the historic streak for the Cubbies. He also struck out an impressive 13 batters.
The final out was a fly out to center field and it was not without drama. Kris Bryant was at the plate and he crushed the ball. Odubel Herrera was in center. He went back on the ball but appeared to overrun it a little bit. In correcting his positioning he stumbled and fell down. I have no allegiances to the Phillies or Hamels but even I fell a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. For Hamels to potentially lose his no-hitter this way would have been criminal. But just at the last second Herrera was able to stab his glove out and catch the ball just inches off the ground. It was not at all a pretty play but it sure was spectacular.
Honorable Mention: Clayton Kershaw came close to Hamels’ game. Only he faced the Mets, a much less dangerous offense. He also pitched a complete game shutout and allowed just 1 more base runner. But his 3 base runners were all base hits. He walked none and struck out 11 batters.
MLB Leaders:
K% – Cole Hamels (44.8%)
BB% – 21 players tied (0.0%)
AVG – Cole Hamels (.000)
WHIP – Cole Hamels (0.22)
ERA – 14 players tied (0.00)
FIP – Vincent Velasquez (0.49)
xFIP – Clayton Kershaw (1.09)
fWAR – 5 players tied (0.5)
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
