Freaks of the Week

FOTW 5/26-6/1

By: Spent Brockman

Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs

Stroman had his work cut out for him when he toed the mound taking on baseball's top team. Coming off impressive series wins against the Blue Jays and Dodgers, the rays came into the Memorial Day matchup firing on all cylinders, but Stroman stalled the offense early and it never got going. Apart from a bloop single off the bat of the early AL MVP frontrunner Wander Franco, the Rays simply could not touch Stro. The Cubs' ace completed the one hit shutout gem allowing one other baserunner via a walk and struck out 8 batters as the cherry on top of an excellent outing. This great outing did not come out of nowhere with Stroman now carrying a 2.59 ERA paired with a NL leading 0.99 WHIP this season and had a 2.71 ERA over his final 14 starts last season. The Cubs are going to need Stroman to continue to perform at this level if they want any chance of clawing out of last place in the wide open NL Central.

Ryan McMahon, Colorado Rockies

The Rockie infielder had an explosive weekend against the Mets as he racked up 6 hits across the three games with one of them going for a double and three going over the fence. McMahon's success at the plate was very timely as well as clutched up with runners on base totaling 8 RBIs helping the Rockies clinch a series win over the Mets. McMahon's slugging carried over to the next series too as on Monday he added another dinger to put together a 4 home run streak and capped the series with a two hit game. The four homers over the week doubled his season output bringing his total up to a middling 8. McMahon has definitely had benefited greatly from his home park with a stark contrast between his home and away stats with him batting just under 300 at home and barely over the Mendoza line away from Coors. The lefty's up and down season is emblematic of his team as a whole as they appear to one of the top offenses in baseball when playing at home and are a collective walking mat when they hit the road.

Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds

Drafted 2nd overall in the 2017 draft, it has always been known that Hunter Greene has top end raw talent but to this point the flame throwing youngster has not developed a level of consistency that has resulted in sustained big league success. This week could be a turning point for Greene as it started with an away game at Wrigley Field where he befuddled the Cubs' lineup to the tune of 11 strikeouts over 6 without allowing a run to notch his first win of the season. Greene then went from one iconic setting to another as he took on the Red Sox at Fenway to cap the week to duel their ace Chris Sale. While there were some minor control issues for the hard throwing Red, he still put together a dominant outing striking out 8 over 6 while only surrendering a run and outlasting Sale. Unfortunately for Greene a late game bullpen implosion led to Greene being unable to secure his second win of the week. After the dominant week, Greene now has an ERA under 4 and with an eye popping 12.8 K9. Let's hope Greene has found some magic and is finally able to combine his elite stuff with a level of consistency to develop into the top end pitcher that everyone knows he can be.

Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins

The man who was taken just before Hunter Greene in that 2017 draft has shown that he can live up to that draft pedigree but he has been struck by some crazy bad luck. After making his major league debut following an ACL tear, the top prospect played just 12 before again tearing his ACL. After the devastating back to back torn ACLs, Lewis is back and he is back with a bang. Although he only played three games this week the former top pick knocked 2 homers and a double resulting in six RBIs. Royce's added offense is much needed for this Twin team that has struggled at the plate to this point. If the young do it all player can turn his luck around and stay healthy, the Twins have a longterm cornerstone to prop up their franchise for years to come.

Max Scherzer, New York Mets

This wily veteran needs no introduction. The heterochromatic veteran has been a household name in the baseball world for years now so it should come as little surprise that his name will pop up on a list like this, but this season has had the righty a little out of his comfort zone. Whether it be getting ejected and suspended for a foreign substance or getting popped for six runs against the lowly Tigers, Scherzer has been dealing with challenges he has never come across in his 16 years in the bigs. Mad Max's initial struggles may have led some to believe that this may be the beginning of the end for the first ballot Hall of Famer, but this past week seemed to quell those sentiments as he was back to his normal old self. Scherzer's first start of the week was at the offensive haven Coors Field, but Max did not falter as he delivered 7 strong innings of one run ball while fanning 8. Next Scherzer took on his division rival Phillies and pitched another 7 dominant innings of one ball and topped his previous strikeout high pushing it to 9. This week of success should renew the perennial All Star's confidence and have him riding high into the dog days of summer.