Zack Greinke, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez Lead Players of the Week for April 6-12

Players of the Week for April 6-12, 2015

American League

Cabrera: .520 BA

AL Infielder: Getting off to a blazing start, the Detroit Tigers swept the Indians (at Cleveland) and Twins (in Detroit) for a 6-0 record and a tie for first place with the equally-hot Kansas City Royals.

Mashing away, and, putting a significant scare into pitchers everywhere, Miguel Cabrera set out on an MVP pace with a .520 batting average (13-for-25), including two doubles, two homers and eight RBI, which is tied for the league lead with KC's Salvador Perez.

Cabrera didn't start out the season with his best. Against the Twins, he was just 2-for-11 with two RBI, but in the three-game sweep of Cleveland, he went 11-for-14. In Sunday's 8-5 finale, he was 4-for-4 with two homers, four RBI, and three runs.

Ramirez: Red Sox
LF is red-hot.

AL Outfielder: Adding Hanley Ramirez to their roster has already paid off for the Red Sox, as the shortstop-turned-left fielder turned in an awesome week as the Red Sox went 4-2 on the road with a pair of wins in Philadelphia and two more against the Yankees in the Bronx.

Ramirez played in five of those games, sitting out Saturday's game with the Yankees, but, he made is presence felt in the series final (won by the Yanks, 14-4) with his third home run of the season, and a sac fly, good for two RBI.

While Ramirez hasn't set foot yet in Fenway Park, Boston fans were appreciative from day one. Ramirez opened the season with a two HR game in Boston's 8-0 rout of the Phillies. Ramirez went 2-for-4 and drove in five runs.

For the week, he batted .320, with three homers and seven RBI.

Ventura: 2-0

AL Starting Pitcher: With his team scoring runs in bunches, Yordano Ventura didn't have to be very sharp, but he managed to rack up a pair of wins, the first in a 10-1 victory over the White Sox on opening day, and, the latest, a 9-2 romp over the Angels on Sunday afternoon.

The first outing was better than the second, though the starter was solid in both. In the opener, he went six innings, allowing four hits and one earned run, fanning two. His second start featured seven strikeouts, and two earned runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. A bit troubling is Ventura's giving up a home run in each of his starts.

Holland: 3 saves

AL Relief Pitcher: When your team goes 6-0 for any week, chances are your closer is going to get a few save chances.

Such was the case for KC's Greg Holland, who managed to finish three of Kansas City's six wins, working the ninth in each of their Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday victories. Holland hasn't allowed a hit (or a walk) in three innings of work thus far into the season, and he's fanned three, two of them in Thursday's 4-1 win over the White Sox.

Holland had 47 saves in 2013 and 46 last season, finishing second in saves both seasons.


National League

Gonzalez: 5 HR

NL Infielder: The Dodgers made some moves in the off-season, but one constant is going to be Adrian Gonzalez at first base, and for good reason. Gonzalez started out his 2015 campaign in style, bashing home runs in his first two games before belting three of them and driving in five runs in the Dodgers' 7-4 win over the Padres.

After his blazing 10-for-13 start, Gonzalez cooled off into the weekend, but still managed to go 4-for-10 in three games at Arizona, laving his batting average, as of Sunday night, at a blistering .609. His five homers lead the majors, but he's driven in just seven runs, though that is good enough to tie hime for fourth place with Philly's Jimmy Rollins.

Dickerson: 9 RBI

NL Outfielder: Prior to dropping Saturday and Sunday games to the Cubs, the Rockies were off to a 4-0 start, largely the result of the play of left fielder Corey Dickerson, who started the season with a bang, belting a three-run homer and driving in four runs in Colorado's 10-0 smashing of the Brewers on opening day in Milwaukee.

After that, Dickerson hit safely in each of his next five games, added another homer and drove in five more runs. By week's end, Dickerson was batting .417, and had nine RBI, good enough for the league lead over Cincinnati's Joey Votto and Todd Frazier, each with eight.

Greinke: 0.69 ERA

NL Starting Pitcher: - Zack Greinke ought to be 2-0, but he's 1-0, since, in his first start of the season on April 7, his teammates failed to score early or often, despite Grienke's six innings of 2-hit ball. The starter gave up a run in that 7-3 loss to the Padres, but came back undaunted on Sunday at Arizona, tossing seven shutout innings on five hits as the Dodgers whipped the Diamondbacks, 7-4.

Grilli: 3 saves

Striking out seven without allowing a walk in his second outing, Greinke upped his seasonal total to 11 Ks and is at his best with a 0.69 ERA and 0.62 WHIP.


NL Relief Pitcher: Atlanta's Jason Grilli looks like a keeper as the Braves' closer. Grilli got three chances and converted them all in a pair of wins over the Marlins and a Friday night, 5-3 win over the Mets.

Grilli, who spent last season split between Pittsburgh and the LA Angels, appears fit and ready for the Braves. He fanned four in his three innings of work, didn't give up a hit and issued just one walk.

The Braves are 5-1 as of Sunday night and have a two-game lead over the Mets and Phillies in the NL East.

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