MLB Team of the Week: Yasiel Puig, David Ortiz and Starlin Castro Star
Entering play Friday, Colorado Rockies rookie shortstop Trevor Story is on pace to hit more than 200 home runs. The same goes for veteran Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano.
Yet neither player cracked the starting 10 for 2016's inaugural Bleacher Report Team of the Week.
That should tell you a few things. First, it's way early, and we're residing squarely in small-sample land. Second, this is a pretty stacked Team of the Week.
For those new to the party, let's review the ground rules.
These are the players (one per position plus a designated hitter) who have busted box scores during the first five days of the MLB season.
To qualify, a player needs at least two starts at the position in question or at least one start in the case of pitchers. Speaking of which, we're only considering starting hurlers—sorry, relievers.
And while this is mostly about individual output, bonus points are awarded if a strong performance led to ticks in the win column.
Ready? Let's do it.
Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
1 of 10
Don't worry. We're going to get through this entire slide without mentioning that it's an even year.
Oops.
Seriously, though, there's no secret formula or unspoken law of the universe that dictates the San Francisco Giants will hoist a Commissioner's Trophy in 2016 simply because they did so in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Numerical anomalies aren't predictive.
Here's what we do know: Buster Posey is good at baseball.
The Giants backstop proved as much with a typically stellar week, going 5-for-14 with a double, a home run and four RBI.
San Francisco, meanwhile, jumped out to a 3-1 start. Even-year magic?
Dang it, there we go again.
Honorable Mention
Brian McCann (NYY): 5-for-11, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
First Base: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs
2 of 10
Only on a club as young and stacked as the Chicago Cubs could 26-year-old Anthony Rizzo look like a grizzled veteran.
To be fair, Rizzo is entering his fourth full MLB season. And if his first three games are any indication, the two-time All-Star plans to make this his best campaign yet.
Even as the ultra-hyped Cubbies went 3-0, Rizzo went 5-for-11 with a triple, two home runs and an eye-popping nine RBI.
That included six RBI in Thursday's 14-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, a game that saw left fielder Kyle Schwarber carted off the field after a scary outfield collision.
The Cubs, as yours truly noted, can weather that storm. And Rizzo's game-changing bat is a significant reason why.
Honorable Mention
Adrian Gonzalez (LAD): 7-for-14, 3 2B, 4 RBI
Second Base: Starlin Castro, New York Yankees
3 of 10
Short of convening a summit between Derek Jeter and the ghost of Babe Ruth, there aren't many ways Starlin Castro could have made a better impression on the New York Yankees faithful.
The mercurial middle infielder, who came to the Bronx in a winter trade with the Cubs, went 7-for-12 with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI as the Yankees took two of three from the Houston Astros and plated 27 runs.
In fact, as Newsday's Anthony Rieber noted, Castro set the record for the most RBI in his first two games in pinstripes.
"Starlin Castro is playing t-ball right now," teammate Carlos Beltran said, per Rieber.
Whatever sport the 26-year-old Castro is playing, the Yanks and their cast of creaky veterans will undoubtedly take it.
Honorable Mention
Robinson Cano (SEA): 4-for-13, 4 HR, 7 RBI
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Third Base: Matt Duffy, San Francisco Giants
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Last season, Matt Duffy went from one of the Giants' fringe roster candidates to the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up.
Still, it would've been easy to dismiss the spindly 25-year-old, a former 18th-round pick who displayed virtually no pop in college or the minors, as a regression-doomed flash in the pan.
Duffy has answered that charge with five hits in his first four games, including two home runs and six RBI. And he's looking very much like the steady swinger who posted a .295/.334/.428 slash line with 12 home runs and 77 RBI in 2015.
As the original Duffman himself might put it, "Oh yeah!"
Honorable Mention
Maikel Franco (PHI): 3-for-10, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Shortstop: Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
5 of 10
At the risk of making this season's most obvious statement, Carlos Correa is good. Like, really good.
As if we needed further evidence, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year went 5-for-13 with three home runs and four RBI.
In the process, the Houston Astros' burgeoning stud served notice that he's likely to keep getting better—a night sweat-inducing thought for opposing pitchers.
As CBSSports.com's Jonah Keri put it, "They're already comparing him to Derek Jeter for his precocious poise, and to Alex Rodriguez for his size and skill; you don't see many 6'4", 215-pound shortstops walking around, let alone possessing Correa's combination of brute strength and agility."
Correa is still just 21, and he's scarcely cracked 100 big league games. But if last season set the bar, his early 2016 returns suggest he's more than prepared to clear it.
Honorable Mention
Trevor Story (COL): 4-for-14, 4 HR, 7 RBI
Left Field: Angel Pagan, San Francisco Giants
6 of 10
Ugh, another Giants player on the list, right?
Hear us out, though. Because not only has Angel Pagan, San Francisco's former center fielder, adjusted to his new role in left, but he's also taken to his assignment in the No. 9 spot in manager Bruce Bochy's reconfigured lineup.
By hitting Pagan at the bottom of the order with the pitcher batting eighth, Bochy is stacking Pagan and new leadoff man/center fielder Denard Span to form a theoretical rally-sparking twosome.
So far, Pagan has done his part and then some, shrugging off recent injuries and production dips to go 5-for-15 with two doubles, a triple, a pair of RBI and a stolen base.
Honorable Mention
Gerardo Parra (COL): 4-for-10, 3 2B, 1 SB
Center Field: Dexter Fowler, Chicago Cubs
7 of 10
While other free-agent outfielders inked gaudy deals this winter, Dexter Fowler ultimately settled for a one-year, $13 million pact with the Cubs.
Yes, he reportedly turned down more years and cash from the Baltimore Orioles. Still, that short-term contract had to put at least a bite-sized chip on Fowler's shoulder.
If so, he's putting it to good use. Fowler, who resumed duties in center field while $184 million man Jason Heyward slotted into right, has gone 7-for-12 with a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI.
As Fowler put it to the Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales, "I'm always on a personal mission."
Honorable Mention
Adam Eaton (CWS): 9-for-16, 1 2B, 1 3B
Right Field: Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
8 of 10
Injuries, inconsistency and off-field troubles may have masked it, but Yasiel Puig is a force of nature. He's also just 25 years old, meaning the brash Cuban masher is barely entering his prime.
All of which is to say: The Los Angeles Dodgers should be encouraged by what they've witnessed so far.
Through four games, Puig has gone 8-for-15 with two triples, a home run, four RBI and six runs scored. And he's looked increasingly like the cocky ball of energy that first took Los Angeles by storm in 2013.
Here's how new skipper Dave Roberts put it, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times: "When he gets on base and conducts those at-bats for us in the middle of the order, good things are going to happen."
Honorable Mention
David Peralta (ARI): 8-for-17, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI
Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
9 of 10
Since 2016 has yet to yield a truly transcendent starting pitching performance, we'll have to "settle" for Clayton Kershaw doing Clayton Kershaw things.
In his first start of the season, the Dodgers left-hander twirled seven shutout innings against the admittedly hapless San Diego Padres, striking out nine and giving up just one hit and one walk.
That won't be enough to make the Dodgers faithful forget about Zack Greinke just yet. And it doesn't even crack Kershaw's otherworldly career highlight reel.
But it should remind everyone that L.A.'s lanky southpaw is the baddest man on the planet with a baseball in his hand.
Honorable Mention
Jake Arrieta (CHC): 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
10 of 10
The David Ortiz farewell locomotive has left the station with a serious head of steam.
Nine at-bats into his final big league season, Big Papi already has three hits, including a double and two home runs.
Yes, he turned 40 in November. No, it is not wise to bet against him putting up another gaudy late-career stat line, as FanGraphs' Paul Swydan outlined:
"Ortiz's batting eye has never waned, and he isn't especially vulnerable to any one pitch. In fact, last year he tallied the best performance of his career against changeups, and on a rate basis that performance was fifth-best in the majors among qualified hitters. David Ortiz is 40 now, and it seems like he shouldn't be hitting this well anymore, but he is, so don't doubt it for a second.
"
In 2015, remember, Ortiz launched 37 home runs, more than he'd hit in any season since 2006. Will his swan song be equally memorable and help carry the Boston Red Sox back to October?
Time will tell, but so far the train is rolling in the right direction.
Honorable Mention
Billy Butler (OAK): 3-for-10, 2 2B
All statistics current as of Thursday and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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