:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49840057/usa-today-9336135.0.jpg)
The Indians
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
- May 16-22: Rajai Davis
- May 23-29: Jose Ramirez
- May 30-June 5: Tyler Naquin
The Candidates
Trevor Bauer
Monday in Seattle Bauer pitched a season-best 7.2 innings and struck out a season-best ten while allowing just one run on five hits. Saturday in Anaheim, Bauer set a new season high with eight innings pitched. he gave up nine hits and struck out only three, but allowed only three runs (two earned). Notably, he only walked one batter in each start, and didn't allow a home run in either. in 15.2 innings for the week, his ERA was 1.72 and his FIP was 1.84.
Rajai Davis
Davis hit .222/.300/.370 in 30 plate appearances last week. That might seem like a weak batting line for a candidate, and that's because it is. Incredibly, the Indians won four games and averaged a not-that-bad 3.71 runs per game despite only one player on the team posting an even average week at the plate. Davis gets this spot because he did manage to steal three bases, giving him a team-high 15 of them for the season.
Corey Kluber
Kluber pitched a complete game Friday night against the Angels, only the Tribe's second of the season. (Kluber has the other one as well.) Kluber gave up two runs on just three hits and a walk, while striking out eight.
Carlos Santana
Santana hit .296/.367/.593 in 30 plate appearances last week, giving him a wRC+ of 160 in a week when no one else on the team was above 90. He led the team with eight hits and eleven times on base, with six runs scored and five runs batted in. He also led the team with two home runs, both of which came in Sunday's victory. (He also missed having a third home run by about a foot.) It was the seventh multi-HR game of his career, the most by any Indians player this decade.
The Winner
This award is biased against pitchers, because it's difficult to exceed in one game the contributions a player can have by playing in six or seven games. One or two starters a week will appear twice, and pitching well in both of those games is just about the only way to build a viable case. Well, that's exactly what Bauer did. Fun fact: Prior to last week, Bauer had never pitched 7+ innings without giving up a home run or walking more than one batter. He did it for the first time on Monday, then did it again on Saturday. This is an easy choice for me. Congratulations, Trevor!