Corbin Carroll, Shohei Ohtani highlight Ben Verlander's team of the week
The baseball season is heating up, and so are a few familiar faces from the past.
Some notable star players who have struggled or been downright bad to start the season made my team of the week following some strong performances. My team also includes a couple of young phenoms and my favorite player in the game.
Let's not waste any more time now and unveil my team of the week for this past week in MLB!
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Ben Verlander gives you his 'Team of the Week' and Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani, Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, and Los Angeles Dodgers' Bobby Miller headlines his team.
Catcher: Gary Sánchez, San Diego Padres — three home runs, eight RBIs, 1.106 OPS
Padres legend Gary Sánchez! What is going on here? This guy is playing a lot differently from the player he was over the last few years. He was a hot prospect with the Yankees when he first came up but struggled not long after that. He’s played on many different teams but has never really stuck. The Padres signed him after he was in the big leagues for around two hours with the Mets. He's been great early on for them.
First base: José Abreu, Houston Astros — .308 batting average, two home runs, six RBIs
Jose Abreu has finally found his power swing. He has three home runs on the year, all coming in the last couple of weeks. The man is back. The slow start was hard on him. The fanbase was tough on him. It didn’t help that Yuli Gurriel was performing well at the same time. It's good to see Abreu playing like he's capable of.
Second base: Luis Arráez, Miami Marlins — .500 batting average, four RBIs, 1.080 OPS
A future friend of the pod in a few days! He hit .500 and when Luis Arráez has an OPS north of 1.000, you know he had a really good week because the guy doesn’t hit many homers. There are obviously a lot of singles involved but you’ve got to recognize that he has one of the best batting averages in recent memory.
Third base: José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians — .385 batting average, four home runs, eight RBIs, 1.390 OPS
José Ramírez hasn’t had a great year so far by his standards. He’s one of the best third basemen in the game of baseball, probably in the top three. But he hadn’t been that guy this year until this week. He had three homers on Thursday against the Red Sox.
Shortstop: Corey Seager, Texas Rangers — .400 batting average, two home runs, six RBIs, 1.204 OPS
He’s a big part of this Rangers team that’s been really, really good. He’s back in this lineup after an injury kept him out for quite a while but he’s back to raking. He never really missed a beat and has been one of baseball's best hitters this season.
Outfield: Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies — .263 batting average, four home runs, eight RBIs, 1.000 slugging percentage
Is this a surprise to anybody? The calendar turns to June and Kyle Schwarber turns into Barry Bonds. He slugged 1.000! Sure, he hit .263 but it’s about the four home runs. He hit a walk-off homer against the Dodgers on Friday, so he's coming up in the clutch as well. June Schwarber is the best Schwarber, and it’s a blast to watch him.
Outfield: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks — .476 batting average, four home runs, eight RBIs, 1.685 OPS
Of course, Carroll’s here! He’s just remarkable. You all know the drill by now with him.
Outfield: Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies — .400 batting average, two home runs, five RBIs, 1.228 OPS
Sunday’s game doesn’t count in these stats, but it should be pointed out that he hit a walk-off home run for the Rockies. This guy is en fuego.
Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels — .348 batting average, three home runs, 1.293 OPS
What a week for Shohei Ohtani. He was a triple away from the cycle on Friday. He hit multiple home runs in one game. He’s breaking Statcast with his home runs, too. One of his homers this past week was recorded as a 112.9 mph shot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When Shohei isn’t doing something as well as he normally does, he typically does better on the other end. Right now, his pitching isn’t exactly where he’d love for it to be, but his offense has been incredible.
Starting pitcher: Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers — 1-0, zero earned runs, 14 strikeouts, four hits, 12 innings pitched
The rookie! If the Dodgers make it to the World Series this year, it’s going to be in part of Miller. This flamethrower has come up and made three big starts. He has a 0.78 ERA so far in the big league.
Relief pitcher: Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta Braves — three saves, zero earned runs, five strikeouts, zero hits, four innings pitched
Most of these stats came against the struggling Mets, but this is as close to perfect as you can get.
Player of the Week: Corbin Carroll
No surprise here. He hit .476 with four home runs and an OPS of nearly 1.700! What more can you say about the guy? He does every single thing imaginable.