MLB Team of the Week: Manny Machado, Miguel Sano and Brandon Crawford Star
While your eyes were glued to the Rio Olympics, another week of baseball action splashed past like Michael Phelps after an umpteenth gold medal.
Luckily for you, we were paying attention at Bleacher Report's MLB Team of the Week headquarters. Here's the result: 10 players—including a starting pitcher and designated hitter—who busted box scores over the past seven days.
To qualify, a player needs at least two starts at the position in question or one in the case of pitchers. While this is mostly about individual output, we award bonus points for gaudy stats that translated to ticks in the win column.
Enjoy that water polo match—and then limber up your commenting muscles and proceed when ready.
Catcher: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
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If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan searching for optimism, look no further than Yadier Molina.
The veteran backstop has raised his average more than 20 points since July 1 and enjoyed a superlative week, going 11-for-25 with a pair of doubles, a home run and four RBI.
Granted, St. Louis went 3-4 and trails the archrival Chicago Cubs by an unlucky 13 games in the NL Central entering play Friday.
But the Cards are squarely in the National League wild-card mix. A scalding stretch run by Molina could help them flutter to a sixth straight postseason appearance.
Honorable Mention: Wilson Ramos (WSH): 7-for-16, 2 HR, 4 RBI
First Base: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
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Freddie Freeman stumbled out of the gate this season, striking out 26 times in April while hitting just three home runs.
That, inevitably, led to questions about what might be wrong with the 26-year-old two-time All-Star.
"There's nothing wrong with Freddie," manager Brian Snitker said recently, per David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He's a normal person; he's human. He probably, in some of those situations, feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. But like I said before, when you handle adversity, there's usually something good on the other side of it, and he always does."
This week, what Freeman did was tally eight hits in 23 at-bats, including two doubles and three homers, with six RBI.
The cellar-dwelling Braves went 4-3, including a series win against the Cardinals.
Honorable Mention: Adrian Gonzalez (LAD): 11-for-23, 4 2B, HR, 4 RBI
Second Base: Devon Travis, Toronto Blue Jays
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Recently, FanGraphs' August Fagerstrom highlighted Devon Travis as one of the most underrated players in baseball.
"If there's a hole to be found anywhere in Travis' game, aside from the potential durability concerns, I can't see it," he opined.
Travis made Fagerstrom and the rest of his boosters (including yours truly) look good this week, going 12-for-27 with a triple, three home runs and seven RBI.
The defending division champion Toronto Blue Jays went 3-3, but they maintained a slim half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the hyper-competitive American League East.
Underrated or no, Travis can boost the cause north of the border if he keeps raking.
Honorable Mention: Jose Altuve (HOU): 13-for-24, 3 2B, 7 RBI
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Third Base: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
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Give Travis his propers, but the winner of the Most Likely to Make a Massive Difference with His Bat Down the Stretch award in the AL East belongs to Manny Machado, as I elucidated.
Six of Machado's 11 hits this week went for extra bases (two doubles and four home runs), and he paced all qualified third basemen with 11 RBI.
Yes, the O's went 3-4 and have questions in the starting rotation. But—to borrow a phrase from a former big league bopper—Manny is looking increasingly like Manny.
That's unequivocally excellent news in Baltimore and bad news for everyone else.
Honorable Mention: Nolan Arenado (COL): 8-for-23, 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Shortstop: Brandon Crawford, San Francisco Giants
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Even allowing for the subjective nature of our Team of the Week selection process, there were other shortstops who had better weeks statistically than the San Francisco Giants' Brandon Crawford.
No other shortstop, however, became the first player since 1975 to collect seven hits in a single game. And no other shortstop followed that up two days later by homering in a 1-0 victory that gave his first-place team its first series win since the All-Star break, as Crawford did against the Miami Marlins.
Plus, Crawford's numbers for the week—11-for-26 with a double, a triple and a home run—were suitably impressive.
"It's crazy to me," Crawford said of setting the franchise mark for knocks in a game, per Christopher Stock of the Associated Press (via U.S. News & World Report). "The history of the Giants with all of the great players that have come through, you would think that somebody pushed across seven hits in one day, but it's pretty crazy to be in pretty small company."
Honorable Mention: Carlos Correa (HOU): 10-for-26, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Left Field: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
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Even with the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline past, Ryan Braun's name keeps churning through the rumor mill.
The veteran Milwaukee Brewers bopper almost surely isn't going anywhere this season for a variety of reasons, but the speculation is understandable.
Braun, after all, went 8-for-22 this week with three home runs and nine RBI while posting a 1.237 OPS.
Those numbers would look mighty fine in the middle of almost any lineup and could make Braun a hot trade commodity this winter in a weak free-agent class.
For now, however, he's a Brewer. Get used to it.
Honorable Mention: Brett Gardner (NYY): 10-for-26, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 RBI
Center Field: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies
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On Tuesday, Charlie Blackmon broke the Colorado Rockies' franchise record for leadoff home runs in a season when he clubbed his seventh.
The previous record holder? Charlie Blackmon.
As if besting himself in the game-opening, fence-clearing department wasn't enough, Blackmon racked up 16 hits in 34 at-bats, including two doubles, a triple and three homers, while notching nine RBI.
The Rockies' long-shot playoff bid took a serious dive after a 2-5 week, but Blackmon is flying a mile high.
Honorable Mention: Adam Jones (BAL): 14-for-31, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Right Field: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
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This one will taste bittersweet to Boston Red Sox fans since Mookie Betts is day-to-day with a right calf issue, and the team has been beset by various maladies.
But before the injury bug bit, Betts had himself a week, going 9-for-20 with three doubles and a home run.
Boston went 2-4, meanwhile, including a series loss to the hated New York Yankees and farewell-touring Alex Rodriguez.
In the process, the Sox slid three games back in the AL East. So follow the health of Betts—and the rest of the roster—closely.
Honorable Mention: George Springer (HOU): 10-for-32, 5 2B, HR, 8 RBI
Designated Hitter: Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins
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It's been a rough year for Miguel Sano and the Minnesota Twins.
Both were surprise darlings in 2015, blossoming before our eyes. And both have largely tanked in 2016.
Hang on, though. While the Twins remain entrenched in last place in the AL Central, Sano has begun to find his stroke.
Sure, he still strikes out a lot. But his game-changing thump offers Twins nation a powerful dose of hope.
Just this week, the 23-year-old masher went 10-for-25 with two doubles, four homers and seven RBI.
"I see a young guy still learning to play the game," veteran Joe Mauer said of his teammate, per John Shipley of the Pioneer Press. "You have to have a lot of patience with young players, but he has a lot of talent, and it's exciting to think about what he can do."
Honorable Mention: Victor Martinez (DET): 9-for-24, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Pitcher: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
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As much as their recent acquisitions matter, the Texas Rangers could benefit as much or more from a resurgent Yu Darvish.
Right on cue, the Japanese right-hander delivered his longest outing since returning from Tommy John surgery, scattering five hits over seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and no walks Sunday against the Houston Astros.
The Rangers didn't add an ace to their rotation at the trade deadline, opting instead to bolster the offense with the likes of catcher Jonathan Lucroy and proven postseason hero Carlos Beltran.
A month-plus of vintage Darvish, however, may be the biggest factor as Texas defends its AL West crown.
Honorable Mention: Steven Wright (BOS): 9 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 SO
All statistics current as of Aug. 11 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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