MLB Team of the Week: Edwin Encarnacion, J.D. Martinez and Colby Lewis Star
On June 15, the Miami Marlins' Ichiro Suzuki collected his 4,257th professional hit. In one sense, he passed Pete Rose on the all-time hits list. In another, he didn't, since 1,278 of those knocks came during Ichiro's days in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
You can read my ruminations on the subject here. The point, though, is that some stats are controversial.
Others are mostly neat and clean. Like, for example, the ones we use to determine Bleacher Report's Team of the Week.
There's always room for argument and subjectivity—that's what the comments section is for. But for the most part, this is a straightforward exercise.
In case you're new to the party: These are the players—one per position, including a designated hitter and starting pitcher—who blew up box scores over the past seven days.
It's primarily about individual achievement, but we award bonus points for gaudy numbers that translated to ticks in the win column.
Ichiro didn't make the cut, milestone hits aside. Who did?
Tap the pine tar off your virtual helmet, dig into the box and find out.
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
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The defending champion Kansas City Royals are locked in a dogfight in the noisy, balanced American League Central.
More weeks like this from Salvador Perez will ensure they prevail in that fight.
The Royals backstop went 12-for-27 with a double, four home runs and seven RBI, helping the Royals roll to a 5-2 week and stay within a half-game of the first-place Cleveland Indians.
"We like to compete. We never quit," Perez said of his postseason-tested brethren, per MLB.com's Scott Chasen. "When you play hard, you see [good] things happen."
Honorable Mention: Buster Posey (SF): 10-for-24, 2 2B, 5 RBI
First Base: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
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Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle on Wednesday, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat this season and the first Atlanta Braves player to do it since 2008.
That's an excellent starting point for Team of the Week honors, but Freeman cemented his case by going 11-for-29 overall with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and seven RBI.
The Braves went 3-4 and remain buried in last place in the National League Central. However, as Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball recently reported, the 26-year-old Freeman is "totally off limits" in trade talks.
Honorable Mention: Mitch Moreland (TEX): 9-for-24, 4 HR, 6 RBI
Second Base: Ian Kinsler, Detroit Tigers
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Ian Kinsler drove in 10 runs for the Detroit Tigers this week and went 9-for-31 with two doubles, a triple and three home runs.
Perhaps more importantly, he got a vote of confidence from former Tigers second baseman and franchise icon Lou Whitaker.
"When someone is doing well at that [position], it feels real good," Whitaker said, per Peter J. Wallner of MLive.com. "Sort of reminds me of the day I was able to be out there and do well for the fans…the guy has a love for the game and you can see that."
Honorable Mention: Rougned Odor (TEX): 9-for-31, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI
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Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
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Team of the Week isn't about career or even season-long accomplishments, so technically, it doesn't matter that Xander Bogaerts is leading MLB with 96 hits entering play on Friday.
What does matter is that the Boston Red Sox's shortstop and budding star rapped out 12 knocks in 26 at-bats this week, including a double and two home runs, and tallied nine RBI.
As Alex Speier of the Boston Globe noted, Bogaerts is cruising toward the 200-hit plateau, "with potentially loftier milestones remaining a possibility."
When it comes to this kid, the possibilities are endless.
Honorable Mention: Didi Gregorius (NYY): 9-for-20, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI
Third Base: Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays
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Josh Donaldson is the first of three Toronto Blue Jays on the list, and it's about time he made an appearance.
The 2015 AL MVP hadn't crashed Team of the Week yet in 2016, but he busted through by going 12-for-26 with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBI, good for a 1.405 OPS.
The Jays, meanwhile, went 6-1 and fluttered within two games of first place in the AL East.
Toronto kicks off a series against the first-place Baltimore Orioles on Friday. More of the same hot swinging from Donaldson would be a big boon for the defending division champs.
Honorable Mention: Justin Turner (LAD): 9-for-26, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Left Field: Melvin Upton Jr., San Diego Padres
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It's not often we get to sing the praises of Melvin Upton Jr., the artist formerly known as B.J. Current struggles aside, his younger brother, Justin, generally steals the show.
This week, however, the elder Upton tallied nine hits in 27 at-bats, including two doubles and three home runs, while notching six RBI and a couple of stolen bases.
Full disclosure, we wanted to stick him on the last edition of Team of the Week after his audacious straight steal of home.
Now, a scalding week for the admittedly hapless San Diego Padres seals the deal.
Honorable Mention: Michael Saunders (TOR): 9-for-21, 2 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI
Center Field: Kevin Pillar, Toronto Blue Jays
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The second Blue Jays player to make the cut, Kevin Pillar augmented his typically stellar MLB-best defense by going 12-for-31 with a double, four home runs, six RBI and eight runs scored.
Pillar will always be remembered for his gilded leather, but more weeks like this with the lumber will solidify his status as a legit two-way threat and aid the Jays' quest for another postseason berth.
Honorable Mention: Ian Desmond (TEX): 11-for-28, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Right Field: J.D. Martinez, Detroit Tigers
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And so we arrive at our first legitimately melancholy Team of the Week entrant of 2016.
First, the nice news: J.D. Martinez went 13-for-25 this week with six doubles, good for an eye-popping .520 average.
Now, the not-so-nice news: The slugging Tigers outfielder fractured his elbow and landed on the disabled list on Thursday after colliding with the wall in Kansas City.
"Obviously, it hurts," Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander said of the injury, per ESPN.com's Katie Strang. "J.D. is somebody we look to to drive in runs and be one of our middle-of-the-lineup guys."
Now, it'll be up to others—including veterans Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez and the aforementioned Justin Upton—to pick up the slack.
Honorable Mention: Carlos Gonzalez (COL): 10-for-21, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Designated Hitter: Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays
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Our third Blue Jay was also the hottest of the flock.
Padding his stats in a contract year, Edwin Encarnacion went 11-for-24 with three doubles, six homers and an astounding 14 RBI.
If you're keeping score at home, that's good for a 1.333 slugging percentage and a ludicrous 1.900 OPS.
"I just tried to make adjustments during the game," Encarnacion said after launching a pair of homers June 11 against the Orioles, per MLB.com's . "If I don't make adjustments, then they will make adjustments to me."
Honorable Mention: David Ortiz (BOS): 10-for-26, 3 2B, HR, 2 RBI
Pitcher: Colby Lewis, Texas Rangers
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In Thursday's start against the Oakland A's, Colby Lewis carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth.
The Texas Rangers right-hander wound up with "merely" a complete-game victory after Oakland rallied for a couple of hits and a run in the ninth.
For the week, Lewis logged 17 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs and holding opposing hitters to an .091 average.
The 36-year-old shares a rotation with ace-level arms, including Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. At some point, he'll presumably cede supremacy to one or both of them.
For now, he's riding high for the first-place Rangers—not quite perfect, but close enough.
Honorable Mention: CC Sabathia (NYY): 2-0, 13 IP, 1 ER, 5 BB, 11 SO
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