MLB: The biggest moments of week 2, April 11 through April 17
The second week of the Major League Baseball season is in the books and, with about 10 games played by every MLB team, we are starting to get a clearer picture of what each is made of. A lot happened this past week and here are the biggest moments and best and worst performances of the past seven days.
Best MLB team of the week … Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers will probably have a lot of great weeks this season but it will be hard to top the last seven days. After starting the season 1-2, the Dodgers went 6-0 and outscored their opponents 40-9 in the process. The most runs they allowed in a game was three and only two of the six games were close enough to be a save situation. Just like last season, the San Francisco Giants also had a great week, going 5-1 and outscoring their opponents 33-11, and the two juggernauts are tied for the National League West Division lead.
Worst MLB team of the week … Cincinnati Reds
After selling off a number of solid players in the offseason the Redlegs have gotten off to an unsurprising slow start. Last week, Cincinnati lost all six games it played and was outscored 43-15. Their offense scored more than three runs just once all week and their pitching allowed five or more runs in all but one game. Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, and Tommy Pham are a combined 9-for-91 on the season with zero home runs and 34 strikeouts.
Best hitting week in MLB … Owen Miller, Cleveland Guardians
Miller crushed pitching all week, going 11-for-22 with six doubles and two home runs in six games and slashing .500/.538/1.045. The 25-year-old had four multi-hit games and three games with multiple extra-base hits. After a disappointing rookie season where he tallied -1.1 bWAR and hit .204/.243/.309, Miller has impressed in the early going and received starts at both first and second base.
Worst hitting week in MLB … Franmil Reyes, Cleveland Guardians
This award could have gone to a lot of guys. Aristides Aquino, for one, went 1-for-21 with 14 strikeouts but his one hit happened to be a home run. Reyes arguably added no offensive value for the entire week going 3-for-26 with nine strikeouts and slashing an awful .115/.148/.115. It gets worse for the designated hitter as he also grounded into three double plays. In 27 trips to the plate last week he accounted for 26 outs. All in all, the 26-year-old produced a -28 wRC+.
Best MLB start of the week … Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
A lot has already been said about Kershaw being removed from the game after needing only 80 pitches to toss seven perfect innings while striking out 13 on Wednesday. I can see why the Dodgers would make that move. They have a lot of money invested in Kershaw for this season, it was his first start, he has been limited by injuries recently and the lockout led to a shortened Spring Training. That said, I can’t come up with a great reason why this was a good move for Kershaw.
The lefty has won three Cy Young Awards, a Most Valuable Player award and has a no-hitter and a World Series Championship ring. Only 21 pitchers in the modern era have thrown a perfect game and none since 2012. This was a chance for the future Hall-of-Famer to get a notch in his belt that he doesn’t already have and may never have the chance for ever again. Certainly, there is risk involved, but what else does he have to prove at this point?
Worst MLB start of the week … Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres
After not allowing a hit in his first start of the season, it seemed like all Darvish did in his second start was allow baserunners. On Tuesday, 11 of the 15 batters he faced reached base as the righty allowed nine runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batsman. Darvish bounced back with a great start Sunday but he will have an inflated ERA for sometime because of Tuesday’s mess.
Best MLB hitting game of the week … Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
No surprise here as Guerrero became the first player of the 2022 season to hit three homers in a game. On Wednesday, the reigning American League home run champion went 4-for-4 with three homers and a double. It’s not merely what he did but who he did it against. Guerrero went 3-for-3 with two homers off four-time All-Star Gerrit Cole and got his third blast off Jonathan Loaisiga, one of the better relievers in baseball. Baseball being unpredictable, Vladdy went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts the next day.
Worst MLB hitting game of the week … Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies
The 24-year-old Stott won a job with the Phillies based on his impressive Spring Training performance and has had two multi-hit games already, including one in his MLB debut. His performance Saturday, however, is one he would like to forget. Against the Marlins Stott went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. Striking out five times is embarrassing enough but the rookie only saw 17 pitches across those five at-bats. His first four strikeouts were all on three pitches. Thankfully, he saw a couple of balls in his final at-bat before striking out.
Longest MLB home run of the week … Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Trout could also have won the award for scariest almost-serious injury this week when he was hit on the wrist on Sunday. In his first at-bat on Thursday against the Texas Rangers, the three-time American League MVP tattooed a 472-foot homer off Dane Dunning to straight-away centerfield. The blast was 112.9 mph off the bat.
Worst MLB managerial call of the week … Joe Maddon, Los Angeles Angels
Friday’s decision to intentionally walk Corey Seager with the bases loaded will not be on the list of Maddon’s accomplishments if he’s ever enshrined in Cooperstown. With one out in the bottom of the fourth and the Angels losing 3-2 to the Rangers, Maddon opted to have Austin Warren intentionally walk Seager rather than take any chances. The next batter, Mitch Garver, hit a sacrifice fly and Warren later balked in a run to make the game 6-2. Have runs ever scored on an intentional walk and a balk in the same inning by the same pitcher?
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Defenders of Maddon would point to the fact that the Angels won the game 9-6, but what exactly did he accomplish in this scenario? Worst case scenario, if Seager homers, the Angels are down 7-2. That’s bad but is it worse than demoralizing a pitcher with 18 career MLB appearances under his belt and being down 6-2? This move will go down as one of the all-time head-scratchers.