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It's time for our weekly look at the Indians' top players of the last seven days, in which one man is chosen as greater than the rest. Be sure to vote for you choice in the poll included at the bottom.
Not that while this is running on Tuesday, stats are for Monday though Sunday, as usual, and do not include yesterday's series opener against Chicago.
Previous winners:
The Candidates
This week's nominees include three hitters who each posted big numbers, and the team's best pitcher, who is becoming a recurring character in this series. Like the last time the Indians had such a successful week, I expect the voting will be very close.
Michael Bourn
Bourn led the team with 14 hits last week (which also tied him for the MLB lead), including at least one in all seven games. His batting line was .375/.444/.594, and he also stole two bases. His top game of the week may have been Tuesday's 6-2 win over Detroit, when he had two doubles, but he also had a pair of 3-hit games, making his top performance a tough choice.
Michael Brantley
Brantley had another big week, this time with a line of .375/.444/.594 in 36 plate appearances. He had at least one hit in every game, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. He led the team with 7 runs scored and with 3 stolen bases, and tied for the lead with 6 RBI. He hit a walk-off home run with two outs in the 10th inning Monday. On Wednesday he had four hits and stole two bases; in the 13th he drove in the tying run and scored the game winner.
Lonnie Chisenhall
Lonnie's power finally arrived, as he hit his first two home runs of the season. He also added four doubles, giving him a .440/.444/.840 line in 27 plate appearances, and he tied for the team lead with 6 RBI. In Thursday's 13-inning win over Baltimore, Chisenhall didn't even play until the 8th inning, but he entered then as a pinch hitter and tied the game with a home run, then he singled and scored what proved to be the winning run in the 13th.
Corey Kluber
Kluber made two starts last week. The first one, against Detroit, was good. He went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs, with 8 strikeouts and only 2 walks. Nothing special, but solid. The second start, against Baltimore, was great. The Klubot went 7 inning again, this time without allowing any runs, and topping himself with 9 strikeouts. He's won this honor once already this season, and been a nominee multiple times.
The Winner
Kluber continues to pitch really well. I think he's been the best pitcher in the division so far, and he's got a case for having been the best in baseball (really). That said, only one of his two starts was particularly good, and while there are weeks where no position player did well enough to beat him, this was not one of those weeks. It's great to be Bourn putting things together, but I think he's a bit behind the other two. Brantley (like Kluber) is headed for the All-Star Game if he keeps things up, and no one timed their hits better than him last week. If WPA is important to you, you should go with Dr. Smooth, because his 0.78 was fourth best in all of baseball last week. For me though, Lonnie's power numbers were too much better than anyone else's to overlook, and he's my pick. I was happy to see him even get some at bats against lefties (who he is now 6 for 12 with 2 walks against, which is a tiny sample, but still nice to see).
This is Chisenhall's second time this year being honored as Indians Player of the Week, so congratulations for the second time, Lonnie!