MLB Team of the Week: David Ortiz, Corey Seager and Madison Bumgarner Star
With the MLB regular-season finish line in sight, it's time for a fresh installment of Bleacher Report's Team of the Week.
In case you're just joining us, these are the players (one per position, including a starting pitcher and designated hitter) who have lit up box scores over the past seven days. Forget their overall stats. We're judging them solely on what they accomplished between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17.
To qualify, a player needs at least two starts at the position in question or at least one start for pitchers.
Finally, we award bonus points if a strong individual performance led to an uptick in the win column—because as the playoff scrambles come into focus, that's what it's all about.
Catcher: Russell Martin, Toronto Blue Jays
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Amid all the hype about the Toronto Blue Jays' splashy trade-deadline acquisitions and vaunted super-offense, Russell Martin has been something of a forgotten man.
The veteran backstop served a reminder of what his presence means this week, smacking a pair of home runs in an 11-5 win over the New York Yankees on Sept. 11 and going 6-for-18 with two doubles, three jacks and 11 RBI overall.
The Jays, meanwhile, went 5-2, took three of four from the Yanks and extended their lead in the American League East to 3.5 games.
Honorable Mention
Salvador Perez (KC): Salvador Perez went 10-for-28 with three doubles and five RBI for the Kansas City Royals, who went 3-4 but continue to march toward an inevitable AL Central crown.
First Base: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
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The 2015 Chicago White Sox have flopped hard relative to preseason expectations. Not Jose Abreu, though, who is quietly enjoying another exemplary campaign on the South Side.
The Cuban slugger and reigning AL Rookie of the Year has spit on the notion of a sophomore slump and this week went 8-for-25 with two home runs and seven RBI.
Not that it matters for Team of the Week purposes, but Abreu now has 29 home runs and 93 RBI, putting him on pace to reach 30 taters and 100 ribeyes for the second consecutive season.
The only other major leaguer to reach those impressive figures in his first two years? Some guy named Albert Pujols, as ESPN.com's Doug Padilla pointed out.
Honorable Mention
Brandon Belt (SF): Half of Brandon Belt's hits went for extra bases this week, as he banged out two doubles, a triple and a home run while going 8-for-23.
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox remain mired in last place in the AL East, but Dustin Pedroia offered up a little cold comfort, going 9-for-20 with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI.
Pedroia has spent time on the disabled list with hamstring issues, but lately he's shown flashes of his old MVP self.
"I feel good, I just feel strong and I feel healthy," he said after launching a pair of long balls Sept. 16 against the Baltimore Orioles, per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald.
Honorable Mention
Dee Gordon (MIA): Dee Gordon went 12-for-28—good for a .429 average—with a double, a home run, four RBI and two stolen bases.
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Third Base: Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers
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The Texas Rangers stepped on the gas this week, and Adrian Beltre was a driving force.
The Rangers went 6-1, including a four-game sweep of the Lone Star State-rival Houston Astros, to grab hold of first place in the AL West.
And Beltre went off, tallying 14 knocks in 30 at-bats, including four doubles and two home runs, to go along with nine RBI.
Even as he's producing between the lines, the seasoned 36-year-old is providing a steadying presence among his teammates, as is fellow veteran Prince Fielder.
"They lead them on the field with the way they play," rookie skipper Jeff Banister said of Fielder and Beltre, per Gil LeBreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "They lead them in the dugout, with how loose they are at the times when they need to be loose. And they lead them inside that clubhouse with the intensity level, vocally and physically, by how they play and the words they use."
Honorable Mention
Kris Bryant (CHC): Kris Bryant beefed up his Rookie of the Year credentials by going 13-for-35 with six doubles, a home run and seven RBI as the Chicago Cubs crept within two games of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the National League's top wild-card slot.
Shortstop: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
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With Yasiel Puig on the disabled list and once-hot rookie Joc Pederson hitting a paltry .217, the Los Angeles Dodgers needed a spark heading into the postseason.
Enter Corey Seager, a 21-year-old former first-round pick who has done nothing but rake since his Sept. 3 call-up.
Over the last week, Seager hit a cool .500, going 11-for-22 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI.
Veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins is on the shelf with a sprained right index finger. Given the way Seager has been swinging it, it's difficult to imagine Rollins supplanting him if and when the finger heals.
Honorable Mention
Francisco Lindor (CLE): A 10-for-23 week with two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBI vaulted slick-fielding Francisco Lindor to the front of the AL Rookie of the Year race.
Left Field: Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals
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Jayson Werth's week was made by a pair of games Sept. 14 and Sept. 16 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In those contests, Werth clubbed a combined four home runs and collected seven RBI.
Overall—in the midst of a mediocre, injury-plagued season—Werth went 8-for-26 and posted a 1.224 OPS. Too bad the Washington Nationals, a near-consensus preseason pick to win the NL East, are now a virtual lock to miss the postseason.
Honorable Mention
Melky Cabrera (CWS): The Melk Man poured it on this week, going 11-for-25 with two doubles, a home run and eight RBI.
Center Field: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
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It's an easy fact to forget because the Angels, after handily winning the AL West in 2014, are scuffling around the edge of the wild-card chase this year.
But let it be stated unequivocally: Mike Trout is really good at hitting baseballs.
What, you already knew that? You didn't need his 7-for-22 week with a double, four home runs and seven RBI to remind you?
Well, he did it anyway. Because he's Mike Trout.
Honorable Mention
Adam Jones (BAL): Even as the O's plummet out of the playoff picture, Adam Jones had himself a week, going 8-for-29 with two doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI.
Right Field: Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins
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The Minnesota Twins' hopes for a Cinderella season are still alive and well despite a 3-4 week, as they sit just 1.5 games out of the second AL wild-card spot, looking up at the reeling Houston Astros.
Grizzled veteran Torii Hunter did his part with a little turn-back-the-clock action, going 10-for-25 with a double, two home runs and 10 RBI.
And he's apparently keeping the mood light with clubhouse dance parties, because why not? Even at age 40, Hunter retains a passionate, abiding affection for the game.
"He's been fighting me about when I don't play him," manager Paul Molitor said, per Marcus R. Fuller of TwinCities.com. "I like those kind of fights."
Honorable Mention
Bryce Harper (WAS): Bryce Harper remained the NL MVP front-runner with 10 hits in 25 at-bats, including four home runs and seven RBI.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
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There were other designated hitters who put up marginally better numbers than David Ortiz this week (see the honorable mention). None of them, however, launched his 500th career home run.
Ortiz joined an elite fraternity that includes just 26 other major league hitters when he clubbed a pair of dingers Sept. 12 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Overall, he went 7-for-18 with three home runs (including No. 501) and seven RBI on the week.
"What can I tell you? It's a number where it's very hard to get and I've been competing and trying to get things done the right way through the years," Ortiz said on his big day, per Michael Kolligian of MLB.com. "All the names that you mention that are in the 500 club are legends, so to be part of it is an honor and I'm going to enjoy it."
So is Ortiz now a lock to make the Hall of Fame once he's eligible? Sports Illustrated's Cliff Corcoran parsed that very question:
"As a designated hitter whose prime seasons came at the tail end of the juiced era and who has spent the vast majority of his career with a hitter-friendly home ballpark, Ortiz's Hall of Fame candidacy is a complicated one even before one considers his reported failed performance-enhancing drug test during the supposedly anonymous survey testing in 2003 or his superlative postseason performances. Yet, as much as the 500 home run milestone has been diminished by baseball's steroid era, reaching that mark nonetheless stands to strengthen Ortiz's candidacy.
"
It may not equal an automatic bust in Cooperstown, but at the very least, Ortiz's brush with history adds a dash of warm fuzziness to a mostly dreary season in Beantown.
Honorable Mention
Prince Fielder (TEX): Prince Fielder propelled the Rangers' big week, going 12-for-30 with three home runs and 10 RBI.
Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
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There will almost certainly be no October heroics for Madison Bumgarner this year, as the San Francisco Giants have been effectively eliminated from postseason contention.
So the stud southpaw settled for a little September dominance, carrying a perfect game into the eighth inning Sept. 12 against the San Diego Padres and ultimately logging a complete-game, one-hit shutout with no walks and nine strikeouts.
"What an incredible performance," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters after the game. "We're all a little disappointed, but yet, you witnessed just a beautiful game he threw tonight."
That "disappointed" could refer either to Bumgarner just missing perfection or to the defending champs fading out of both the NL West and wild-card races.
Either way, at least they've got MadBum in their corner.
Honorable Mention
Stephen Strasburg (WAS): Speaking of disappointment, Stephen Strasburg offered the Nationals a reprieve from their epic letdown of a season, racking up 14 strikeouts and surrendering no runs and one hit in eight brilliant innings Sept. 15 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
All statistics and standings current as of Sept. 17 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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