Touch ‘em All Time: Unlikely heroes

Here we are, Tribe fans. Another week, another set of magnificent home runs to gaze upon and vote on. Not too many votes last week, but of the votes cast, the majority of them said that Jason Kipnis’ home run against Chris Young was the best of the week. Relive the fountain destroying glory here. And now, here are the candidates for this week:

Jose Ramirez (6/7/17 v. Kyle Freeland, WPA .028)

It’s been a while since I first saw you Jose Ramirez made this list. His last dinger came on 5/26 against the Royals. This time, the Angry Hamster’s home run was the lone run for the Tribe on a night when they were absolutely pummeled by the Colorado Rockies. People will say that this wouldn’t have been a homer had it not been in Coors Field, to which I say why do you like to ruin good things?

Edwin Encarnacion (6/9/17 v. Miguel Gonzalez, WPA .294)

Edwin Encarnacion is a very strong man. He had two home runs last week and would’ve had a third had the umpire crew in New York done their job correctly. Unfortunately, we are left with just two mammoth Parrot home runs this week. The first one came in a critical spot against the Chicago White Sox; the two-run blast to the bushes in center field gave the Tribe the lead that they would not lose for the remainder of the game.

Edwin Encarnacion (6/10/17 v. David Holmberg, WPA .109)

Not being satisfied with just the one home run, Edwin came back to the ballpark the next day and launched another two-run bomb to the bleachers in left field that cut the deficit in half. Edwin paused momentarily as he approached second base as the umpires confirmed the home run; from there, Encarnacion let the parrot fly.

Carlos Santana (6/10/17 v. Dan Jennings, WPA .127)

LINK TO DINGER

Two innings after Edwin’s homer to the bleachers, Carlos Santana took Dan Jennings deep to pull the Tribe to within one run. The White Sox would tack on an unnecessary insurance run in the eighth inning and would eventually win the game. But in the few moments following Santana’s blast, it felt like the momentum was shifting in favor of the Tribe.

Roberto Perez (6/13/17 v. Clayton Kershaw, WPA .151)

Alright, congratulations Robo. Not only did Roberto Perez hit his first home run of the season last night, but he did it off of the best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw. Couple that with the fact that his homer tied the game and you have one of the best home runs of the week.

Daniel Robertson (6/13/17 v. Chris Hatcher, WPA .009)

I can’t remember who pointed it out earlier this week, but one LGT user acknowledged that Daniel Robertson’s best quality is that he is not Michael Martinez. With that being said, Robertson may have earned a few more fans last night as he launched the first home run of his MLB career to the home run porch in left. With the Indians now down just two runs, suddenly there was hope of a walkoff win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, Kenley Jansen came in and slammed the door shut on the Cleveland Indians.

Verdict

There are actually some great choices this week. You could go with Edwin and his game tying blast against the White Sox (the home run worth the most WPA this week). You could also choose Daniel Robertson for getting his first major league home run against a good bullpen. But for me, I’m going with Roberto Perez. Any time you make contact against Clayton Kershaw is a victory. To take him deep for your first home run of the year is something absolutely special. Congratulations Roberto!