Francisco Lindor can’t stop hitting dingers

Last week wasn’t as bad as you remember. When you are in the thick of losing two in a row to the Detroit Tigers, watching a game get postponed, then promptly losing to the Kansas City Royals, things can seem pretty bad — especially when your offense scores 10 runs over five games.

But, even with all that, the Cleveland Indians were 3-3 last week (don’t forget Sunday’s 12-4 win over the Seattle Mariners) and a couple pitchers had outstanding performances. It really was not all bad.

Don’t call Francisco Lindor a power hitter, but he hit another two home runs last week, including a dagger Sunday that gave the Indians a two-run lead over the Royals. Oh, and Yan Gomes is amazing now.

Michael Brantley: 6-23, 1 HR, 2 BB

Everybody just be chill. Nobody freak out. Nobody yell. But Michael Brantley might just be back. He’s not the Michael Brantley yet — he’s still striking out way too much for that — but he’s hitting .289/.349/.485 with a very manageable .324 BABIP under his belt. Last week, Doctor Smooth tied for the team-lead in hits with six and he was one of only four Indians batters to homer.

Yan Gomes: 4-9, 1 (2B), 3 BB, 1 SO

Yan Gomes only played in three games last week, which may lead to some counting him out of this week’s voting, but come on. How am I not going to put the Yanimal on this list with all his struggles over the last year? Even if you don’t vote for Yan, at least take a good, hard look at this numbers and give him a silent nod of acknowledgement for a job well done.

Jason Kipnis: 5-18, 1 (2B)

Speaking of “OMG THEY’RE BACK CANDIDATES,” Jason Kipnis seems to catching his groove his second week back from a shoulder injury. The Tribe second baseman still is not displaying much power, and he struck out three times, but five hits is enough to tie him for second-most over the last week.

Francisco Lindor: 6-26, 2 (2B), 2 HR

[Template for every time Lindor is on the Player of the Week List. Mention power, defense, smile. Remove this sentence after posting.]

Andrew Miller: 3.0 IP, 5 SO

“You can’t have a pitcher who only threw 3.0 innings on a Player of the Week List. This is stupid, you’re stupid, this is why your hamster jumped into the dog’s water bowl and drowned itself when you were 11.” — SHUTUP. Andrew Miller was outstanding in his limited action last week; he struck out five of the 11 batters he faced and didn’t walk anyone.