Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst
In 2023 MLB the season is on!
We completed our first full week of baseball just a couple of days ago. That gave FOX Sports MLB analyst Ben Verlander seven full days of data to report his second team of the week.
This iteration is based on the April 2-8 games.
Let’s take a look at Ben’s best team for the week, along with what he had to say about the players!
C: Will Smith, Dodgers — Seven-day stats: .300 batting average, three home runs, seven RBIs
How good has Will Smith been to start the year? Everyone dismisses him in the conversation for the best catcher in baseball. I don’t know if it’s because he’s named after Will Smith, which makes it harder to stand out because he’s not the first person that comes up when you google his name. I think it continues to be underrated and underrated. He had another great week.
MLB Team of the Week: Dodgers catcher Will Smith continues to improve
Which MLB players have dominated over the past week? See who else made Ben Verlander’s Team of the Week.
1B: Pete Alonso, Foods — Seven-day stats: .218 batting average, four home runs, eight RBIs
Are there any first basemen who have hit better than him in terms of average this season? certainly However, most of Pete Alonso’s hits this season have been home runs. He hit four home runs on the week with eight RBIs. That’s how dominant he was. I love home runs. I love power. That’s what Pete Alonso has had this week. There were other names like Vlad Guerrero Jr. that he could have put in this spot, but with what Alonso did with power when the Mets offense needed it most, it was too hard not to put him here.
2B: Gleyber Torres, Yankees — Seven-day stats: .529 batting average, one home run, four RBIs and four stolen bases
He’s off to a great start with this Yankees lineup. I said this a lot about the Yankees coming into the season: their offense is essentially the same as last season. They didn’t add that big piece. They brought back Aaron Judge, but it was basically the same lineup. Not if Torres is hitting like that, though.
3B: Brian Anderson, brewers – Seven-day stats: .421 batting average, three home runs and 10 RBIs
What Brian Anderson is doing for the Milwaukee Brewers cannot be understated. He came to Milwaukee this offseason and wasn’t seen as much of a pickup. But it has been an essential key to this attack. It’s tracking and dominating.
SS: Strike Franco, rays — Seven-day stats: .280 batting average, two home runs and four RBIs
This is the prospect that everyone knew and expected would show up and be the best prospect in the game. This is what we have achieved. He’s still 22 years old! The guy debuted as a 20-year-old and we’ve seen him take off to become a key piece for this Rays offense that needs that kind of star and stud.
FROM: Bryan Reynolds, pirates — Seven-day stats: .424 batting average, five home runs, 14 RBI, two stolen bases
Bryan Reynolds has been the best player in baseball this season. That’s how dominant he’s been. This season he is hitting .405 with five homers, 14 RBI and two stolen bases. He is simply having the best year yet in the game of baseball.
FROM: Luis Robert Jr., White Sox – Seven-day stats: .444 batting average, four home runs and 10 RBIs
When Luis Robert Jr. made it to the majors, it was just Luis Robert. Adding the junior to his name has done wonders for his baseball career. I said when he came up that this guy was going to win an MVP one day. However, he never went out due to injury and his consistency was never that great. I understand we are only a few games a year. But what he’s done so far this season, hitting .444 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, that’s dominance.
FROM: Mike Trout, angels — Seven-day stats: .346 batting average, three home runs and eight RBIs.
The first two games Trout played at home this year he tried to punch a hole in the windshield of a truck they have out there in deep left-center field. Trout are on fire to start the season. He is hitting .346 with three home runs and eight RBI over the last week. Beautiful, quite dominant. I have a feeling he’ll be here a lot this year. The world just needs a full, healthy Mike Trout season — 150+ games, they just give it to us. For God’s sake, that would be great.
DH: Evan Longoria, Diamondbacks — Seven-day stats: .714 batting average, two home runs and two RBIs
A blast from the past! The boy still rakes. He had a .714 batting average last week with two home runs and two RBIs. Longoria is part of this Diamondbacks lineup full of very young players who, to be honest with you, you can’t count on for an entire season to consistently produce. They are all 20 years old. You’re going to have heights i down with these guys. So to have a veteran in the middle of that lineup that’s producing like that is huge.
PS: Jeffrey SpringsRays – Seven-day stats: 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 0.54 WHIP and 13 innings pitched
Jeffrey Springs had two starts in our timeline and went 2-0. Most importantly, he had a zero ERA with 19 strikeouts and a 0.54 WHIP in 13 innings pitched. Only domination. That’s how good it’s been. There’s no question he’s had the best week for a pitcher so far.
CP: Josh Hader, parents — Seven-day stats: three shutouts, 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts.
Three saves, six strikeouts, that’s pretty dominant. Let’s face it, before Hader had that weird, weird stretch last season where he wasn’t very good, he was the best closer in baseball. He went through this stretch and Edwin Díaz came and took that title away from him. With Diaz out, he’s arguably the best closer in the game right now.
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