BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
Folks! Last week I gave out my player of the week for batters and pitchers in both the American and National Leagues! For this week we have a couple of underrated players in the American League and a two superstars from the National League. Lets get to it!
AL Batter: Matt Olson (Oakland Athletics 1B)
Week Statistics: .375 AVG, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 4 Runs, .833 SLG
Currently there is no team hotter in baseball than the Oakland Athletics and a lot of the success has come from batting explosion. One of the guys leading the charge of the offense is first baseman Matt Olson. Olson started off a bit slow this year but has been on an absolute tear recently and has jumped all the way up to the top first basemen in ESPN leagues. This past week he matched his year long totals for doubles, home runs, and RBI’s while batting .375. Olson had a hit in every game but one this week and had a multi home run game vs the Twins to bring his season total to six. The power is no joke with Matt Olson and if he can stay healthy he has potential to give his owners a 35-plus home run season!
Honorable Mention: Adolis Garcia (Texas Rangers OF): .333 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 5 Runs, .875 SLG
AL Pitcher: Danny Duffy (Kansas City Royals SP)
Week Statistics: 2 GS, 1-1, 11 IP, 0 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BB, 16 Ks, 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP
If you listened to last week’s Trainwreck Sports Fantasy Baseball Podcast you would’ve heard me mention Danny Duffy as one of my favorite waiver wire additions of the week. At the start of the week Duffy was owned in less than 40% ESPN leagues but has now his ownership has skyrocketed to 69.4% and that’s still too low. This past week Duffy had two starts where he didn’t allow an earned run in either of them. In those two starts Duffy was able to strike out 16 batters over just 11 innings and only walked two over both games. You may not believe this but Duffy now has a 0.39 ERA on the season which is third best and only trails Jacob deGrom and Corbin Burnes. He may not be a flashy name but after another incredible week, Duffy is having one of the best seasons for all starting pitchers.
Honorable Mention: Aroldis Chapman (New York Yankees RP): 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 0.00 ERA, 3 Saves
NL Batter: Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres SS)
Week Statistics: .385 AVG, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 9 Runs, 4 SB, .467 OBP, 1.000 SLG
There may not be a better player with power/speed combo in the MLB than Fernando Tatis Jr. This past week, Tatis’ skills were on full display as he erupted and carried his owners to easy victories. It’s very rare to see a player get multiple home runs and steals in a week but that was no issue for Tatis this week. Tatis had 5 home runs and 4 steals over the week while batting .385 and slugging an absurd 1.000. What was most impressive about Fernando’s week is that he did most of his damage against the defending world series champs, Los Angeles Dodgers. In the weekend series vs the Dodgers, Tatis went 8 for 18 (.444 AVG) with 5 home runs and 3 steals. Tatis’ 5 home runs came off of Kershaw (2), Trevor Bauer (2), and Dustin May which makes it even more impressive. As long as he can stay healthy Tatis is a league winner who might just be the most valuable player in all dynasty leagues.
Honorable Mention: CJ Cron (Colorado Rockies 1B): .450 AVG, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 Runs, .950 SLG
NL Pitcher: Jacob deGrom (New York Mets SP)
Week Statistics: 1 GS, 1-0, 9 IP, 2 Hits, 0 BB, 15 Ks, 0.00 ERA, 0.22 WHIP
I’ll be honest I was a bit reluctant to give Jacob deGrom the pitcher of the week award. Not because he doesn’t deserve it but because deGrom might win it every week at his current pace. It was business as usual for Jacob deGrom this past week as he threw a complete game shutout vs the Nationals while striking out a career high 15 batters. deGrom threw an absurd 84 of his 109 pitches for strikes and only allowed two hits in the entire game. It was his third consecutive game of the season with 14-plus strikeouts and pushed his season total to 50 strikeouts in his first four starts which is an MLB record. deGrom now has a 0.31 ERA and a 0.55 WHIP on the season to go along with his 50 punch-outs. He has allowed just one run all year and there is no longer a debate who the best pitcher in baseball is. You want another fun fact? deGrom is batting .545 on the year and went 2-4 with the game winning RBI in this past weeks start. Is there anything that Jacob deGrom can’t do?
Honorable Mention: Brandon Woodruff (Milwaukee Brewers SP): 2 GS, 2-0, 12 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 5 BB, 15 Ks, 0.75 ERA, 0.67 WHIP
In case you missed it make sure to check out last week’s Fantasy Baseball Podcast – TWS Fantasy Baseball Episode 3
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