Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Fernando Tatís headline Ben Verlander's team of the week
Another week of exciting MLB play is in the books, which means it's time to select my team of the week!
This week, I unveil it from San Diego, where we took in the Rays-Padres series over the weekend and are dropping fresh "Flippin' Bats" content from our weekend down there.
We also got to witness a pair of Padres stars play well — so well that they made my team of the week.
[Gwynn, glory, generosity: Padres' Joe Musgrove on playing for San Diego]
Here is who made my team of the week for this past week!
Catcher: J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies — .474 batting average, three home runs, seven RBIs
J.T. Realmuto is rolling, as is this Phillies offense. It feels like from one through nine, they're all on a roll right now. Because of that, Realmuto won't be the only player from the Phillies on here this week.
First base: Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks — .393 batting average, two home runs, eight RBIs
Christian Walker and the slithering snakes, is that what it was? Or the sneaky snakes? No matter what the Diamondbacks nickname themselves, Walker is one the most underrated players in the game of baseball. He's been one of the best first basemen this year and he had another great week.
Second base: Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies — .435 batting average, three home runs, seven RBIs
Another Phillies player makes the list! He hit over .400 with a few homers this week. Stott and the rest of the Phillies' offense is rolling.
Third base: Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles — .400 batting average, two home runs, eight RBIs
Just like with Stott and the Phillies, the Orioles are getting a major contribution from one of their top young hitters. Henderson's been leading the way for this Orioles offense as of late. He was my prediction to win American League Rookie of the Year prior to the season. That got off to a pretty rough start, but he's been fantastic as of late. He even hit the longest home run on to Eutaw Street at Camden Yards with a 462-foot blast last week! That was just one of his three home runs on the week.
Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Atlanta Braves — .478 batting average, one home run, four RBIs
He's hitting in the eight hole for the Atlanta Braves this season, but doing so with a .341 batting average. Shortstop was a big talking point entering this season for the Braves after they lost Dansby Swanson. Some thought Vaughn Grissom might be the answer there, but so far it's been Arcia.
Outfield: Jorge Soler, Miami Marlins — .412 batting average, three home runs, five RBIs
Jorge Soler is such an interesting hitter. When he's hitting well, he's going to be on my team of the week. When he's not, he doesn't look good at all. He was in the midst of a poor stretch before this past week. He's one of the more streaky hitters in the game of baseball. I remember when he hit that home run in the 2021 World Series at Houston to left field that went over the train tracks. I'll never forget it because we were watching fly over our heads and it was just a majestic home run. This last week showed off Soler's gifts.
Outfield: Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves — .423 batting average, one home run, six RBIs
I'm picking another player from this Braves lineup. We can talk about all the other names in this Braves lineup that we know who hit at the top of this lineup — Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley and more. But the guys at the bottom of the Braves' lineup are getting it done right now. Harris has raised his average nearly 60 points over the last few weeks, and he's up to a respectable .249/.306/.402 slash line for the season.
Outfield: Fernando Tatís Jr., San Diego Padres — .474 batting average, two home runs, two RBIs
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been on a roll. I love watching this guy play baseball. We're going to talk a lot about him on Tuesday's episode of "Flippin' Bats" following our weekend in San Diego to watch the Padres take on the Rays. But you just really get a feel of how electric he is as a player when you see him in person. He's so much fun. The better he plays, the more fun he has. He talks to the crowd and vibes with the whole stadium. They get riled up by him. It's an honor just to watch play baseball in person.
Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels — .500 batting average, five home runs, 10 RBIs
Ohtani's on a historic tear. He has 24 home runs on the season and is on pace to hit roughly 52. He's been fantastic on the mound, too. His ERA is at 3.29 now after a quality start against the Rangers on Thursday. But this is all about his offense. There's been nobody nearly as good as Ohtani at designated hitter this week and really over the last month.
Starting pitcher: Blake Snell, San Diego Padres — 1-0, 0.69 ERA, five hits, three walks, 12 strikeouts, 13 innings pitched
Snell made two starts this week and was very, very good. He had a sub-1.00 ERA over his two starts and just had a bunch of strikeouts. He had 12 against the Rays on Saturday. He had back-to-back starts in which he struck out every player in the opposing lineup, which has only happened three other times since 1961. Just remarkable.
Relief pitcher: A.J. Puk, Miami Marlins — Three saves, zero earned runs, two hits, one walk, one strikeout
The Marlins had a huge question mark at closer entering the season. Puk's answered that question and has quelled any concerns in the first two-plus months of the season. There's an argument that he should make the All-Star Game; that's how good he's been.
Player of the week: Shohei Ohtani
You can't pick anyone other than Ohtani right here. He's on a tear right now and is just hitting at a historic level. We're in the midst of a stretch right here for Ohtani that we've never seen him go on. He's hit six homers in his last seven games. It feels like there's a very good chance he hits a homer in every game now.