MLB Weekly Roundup: Nick Castellanos is a six-tool player on a six-tool team

By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst

This week, we saw not one but two benches-clearing scuffles across Major League Baseball.

Baseball "brawls" never amount to much more than grown men just standing around, but I am all-in on the drama and the emotion.

The Mets and Phillies got into it Friday night after Jose Alvarado and Dom Smith exchanged words. On Saturday, the Reds and Cubs emptied benches after Amir Garrett struck out Anthony Rizzo and let out some strong emotion in his direction.

The energy is high in baseball this year. Players are playing with lots of emotion, and it all makes the sport so fun to watch, night in and night out.

Let’s take a look at some of the best things from the week that was in Major League Baseball, as well as some storylines for the week ahead.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Red Sox are playing great baseball and find themselves in first place in the AL East one month into the season.

My favorite part of this team? The home run cart!

This week’s photo of the week comes from Rafael Devers hitting a homer and being pushed through the dugout in the home run cart.

SIX-TOOL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

After an incredible week full of home runs, bat flips and walk-offs, this week’s six-tool player of the week is Nick Castellanos.

Castellanos has been thriving in Cincinnati this year. At the plate, he has been dominating, and he’s a leader on the squad that I've dubbed MLB's six-tool team.

On Sunday, Castellanos went 5-for-6 with two home runs and a walk-off knock for the Reds. One of those home runs was on a 3-0 count — we love that!

Flipping bats and swinging 3-0 is enough to earn Castellanos this week’s six-tool player of the week award.

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TEAM OF THE WEEK

George Springer finally made his long-anticipated season debut for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the team inserted its top offseason acquisition right at the top of the lineup. 

Springer appears to be the spark plug that this team was missing. The Blue Jays lost one game all week and swept the Atlanta Braves.

On Saturday, Springer hit his first two homers of the year, and the Jays won a hard-fought game by a score of 6-5 in extra innings. 

A record of 4-1 on the week with a sweep of the Braves is enough to make Toronto the team of the week.

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

1. New York Yankees  

The Yankees are coming off a solid week that saw them go 5-2. Their offense appeared to maybe get on track, but I’m not going to get ahead of myself after one good week against the Orioles and Tigers.

This week, the Yanks get the Astros and Nationals at home, and I will be locked in to see if this team has really turned a corner or if it just benefited from playing two teams that aren’t very good.

2. Glasnow vs. Ohtani

I’m excited for this one. On Monday in Anaheim, we get one of the most exciting pitching matchups of the year.

It's Tyler Glasnow, who is 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA this season, against Shohei Ohtani, who is 1-0 with a 3.29 ERA and arguably the most exciting player in baseball. That's appointment viewing on a Monday night!

(Editor's note: Ohtani was scratched Monday afternoon and will not pitch after all.)

3. Dodgers and Angels face off

The stars will be out in L.A. this weekend. The Los Angeles Dodgers will travel down the freeway to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels.

We don’t get this series often, but when we do, it’s a must-watch event. Everywhere you look, there will be a baseball star, so make sure you’re locked in this weekend.

THIS WEEK ON THE POD

In this week's episode of my podcast, "Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander," MLB agent Rachel Luba joins me to talk about Trevor Bauer and what exactly happened with the Mets, as well as the current situation with Yasiel Puig.

Here’s to another very exciting week of Major League Baseball.

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @Verly32.