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The Indians began the week by losing two of three to to Texas,
Previous winners:
- April 4-10: Mike Napoli
- April 11-17: Jason Kipnis
- April 18-24: Francisco Lindor
- April 25-May 1: Carlos Santana (my pick), Tyler Naquin (reader vote)
- May 2-8: Francisco Lindor
- May 9-15: Jason Kipnis
The Candidates
Cody Anderson
Anderson was brought up as the 26th man for Monday's doubleheader against the White Sox because someone was needed to start the second game. He'd struggled in his six previous appearances, but turned in his best game of the season, allowing just one run in seven innings, with a career-high nine strikeouts (his previous best was six) and zero walks.
Corey Kluber
In Wednesday's series finale against Chicago, Kluber went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out nine. In seven starts since his rocky first couple weeks of the season, Kluber has a 2.83 ERA, with just over a strikeout an inning, and a K/BB ratio better than four to one.
Mike Napoli
Napoli hit .318/.423/.818 in 26 plate appearances last week, with a wRC+ of 232. He hit safely in all six of the games he played, including three more home runs, giving him a team-leading total of 10 now, which puts him on pace for 34, a number that I must note would qualify as "someone hitting 30 lousy home runs for Pete's sake," something no one has done for the Indians since Grady Sizemore in 2008. Napoli also hit a triple on Tuesday, so there's that, and he led the team with 9 RBI.
Jose Ramirez
Ramirez started all seven games, and hit .348/.500/.696 in 30 plate appearances, with a wRC+ of 224. He had eight hits (including four on Friday) and six walks, plus he was hit by a pitch. He reached safely a total of 15 times, including at least once in all seven games and at least twice in six of them. He had two home runs, two doubles, and two stolen bases for the week, and scored seven runs.
The Winner
Cody Anderson pitched the best game of the week for the Indians, and now looks like the best option for the fifth spot in the rotation for the one or two turns needed before Carrasco's return. I think Napoli and Ramirez both topped him though. Those two had nearly matching wRC+, but Ramirez played in all seven games instead of just six, and is a better and more versatile defender. (In the four games against Chicago, Ramirez started at a different position in each game. I don't know how to research that in a reasonable amount of time, but I have to think very few players in history have ever done that.) He's the winner this week. Congratulations, Jose!