The offense finally picked up for the Cleveland Indians

Each week I select someone as the Indians' top player of the previous week. Then, because this is a dictatorship, but not a totalitarian one, I let you all have your say as well. Some weeks it's a no-brainer, while other weeks there are multiple guys with a strong case. (Occasionally there are weeks when no one has a strong case.)

Previous winners:

• April 6-12: Carlos Santana (my choice, and by a single vote, the voting winner)
• April 13-19: Corey Kluber (with a plurality, but not majority of the vote)

The Indians had another losing week, but the offense managed to pick up a bit (powered mostly by Friday's 13-run outburst), and this week's candidates reflect that improved offensive production, though one young arm pitched his way into the proceedings.

The Candidates

Trevor Bauer

Bauer pitched 7 shutout innings against the White Sox Monday night (let us not discuss what happened in the 9th inning of that one), with 7 strikeouts and only 2 walks. Walks were the one thing holding him back in his first couple games this season (to say nothing of last season), so seeing him issue only the pair of passes was encouraging. Sadly, Trevor was feeling under the weather on Saturday, forcing the Tribe to hold him out of the Detroit series.

Michael Brantley

Brantley hit .458/480/.583 in 25 plate appearances last week, giving him a wRC+ of 204. He had 4 runs scored, 4 runs driven in, and a stolen base. He had 3 hits on Friday and 4 hits on Saturday, including a pair of doubles. Doc Smooth's back didn't seem to be bothering him in Detroit.

Brandon Moss

Moss posted a batting line of .353/.400/.824 in 20 plate appearances last week, good for a wRC+ of 226. He had a quiet series against Chicago, then exploded on Friday night against the Tigers, hitting two home runs and a double, and driving in 7 runs. He also had a couple hits in drove in a couple runs on Sunday.

Carlos Santana

Santana had another good week at the plate, batting .263/.440/.474 in 25 plate appearances, with a wRC+ of 166. He scored 6 runs and drove in 4. He reached base safely 11 times, including 6 walks. He's "only" 2nd in the American League in BB% though... I guess Lando is slipping. Carlos hit his third home run of the season on Tuesday (he's on pace for just 28 of them though, so the masses do not care about his power), and had 4 hits against Detroit.

The Verdict

If Bauer has pitched on Saturday and had a good game, he'd have been the easy winner for me. Instead though, I'm looking at the hitters. It's true that much (most) of his production came in Friday's game, but I won't hold that against him, because Friday's game was awesome.

Congratulations, Brandon!