With web gems, hitting streaks and the reigning two-time MVP returning back to what we all know him to be, the second full week of May is in the books. What a week it has been, the Detroit Tigers are looking like a team that’s proving everyone wrong and making them the class of MLB so far in this young season.
With that being said, here are this week’s MLB standout out players of the week.
AL Standouts – Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson
Normally one person stands out about the rest; however last week was not the case. Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss and his teammate third baseman Josh Donaldson both had outstanding weeks of baseball for the first place A’s as their play at the plate made them stand above the rest. Moss’ week was outstanding to say the least with a .455 batting average, .556 OBP, 1.182 SLG and added three home runs to 11 RBI.Teammate Donaldson also was outstanding at the plate with a .471 batting average, .571 OBP, 1.118 SLG and also added 3 home runs to 10 RBI.
Therefore, Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson are this week’s co-standout players of the week.
NL Standouts – A.J. Pollock
While Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson lit it up this week in the AL, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock put together a nice week at the plate for his last place squad. The Diamondbacks are off to one of their worst starts in franchise history, but did make a little noise over the weekend in hiring Hall of Fame inductee manager Tony LaRussa to oversee all front office baseball operations and D-back fans hope he is the answer, but Pollock’s play at the plate should give their fans that little hope their looking for. With a .500 batting average, .522 OBP, .909 SLG, A.J. Pollock is this week’s NL standout player of the week.
Disappointment – Kansas City Royals
At the beginning of the year, a lot of baseball experts, as well as fans (including me) had the Kansas City Royals breaking out this year and finally dethroning the Detroit Tigers to win their first divisional title since 1985. While yes, the Royals are in second in the AL Central but they sit only one game above .500. Each game, it’s a tossup whether the team is going to have a strong showing or be dead in the water, and that has been a huge disappointment for a team that came into this season with so much hype. Now while the season is not over, and with the pitching the Royals have, theyy can get hot any time, so the Royals as a team still to look out for as the season progresses.
So far the season has been just average for a team looking to make a deep run into the playoffs. As a team, the Kansas City Royals have a .254/.306/.359 slash line at the plate. A little underachieving for a team trying to take on the first place Detroit Tigers, who have a .278/.329/.428 stat line. However, their pitching can’t be blamed for their average start to the season, as their team ERA of 3.43 is good for ninth best in MLB. While the ship is not fully sunk at all, the Royals need to step up their game if they still hope to catch the red-hot Tigers, or at least settle for a Wild Card.
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