The Best Players of the Week

We’ve reported the top 10 best pitchers and batters of the week. There are separate rankings for starting and relief pitchers.

Players are ranked on the RPM statistic. A total above zero means above average performance for the pitcher or batter. The RPMs in the report have been multiplied by 100 to make it easier to read and compare. The higher the number, the more value and impact that player brought to their team in their role as a pitcher or batter.

In each top 10 list we show how many times a player has made it into a weekly top 10 list, with 1 meaning this is their first.

The Top 10 Starting Pitchers (week 8)

Top starting pitchers for week 8: May 14th through May 20th

This week we see 2 returning pitchers: Justin Verlander with the highest batters faced of the crew and Nick Pivetta just scraping by in 10th place. The RPM gap has widened this week by nearly two points. Verlander is currently in the top 25 overall players, sitting in 5th place and is currently the top pitcher in the league!

The lowest starting pitcher RPM total of the week was -32 RPMs.

The Top 10 Relief Pitchers (week 8)

Top relief pitchers for week 8: May 14th through May 20th

Not all relief pitcher situations (outs and bases-occupied) are equal threats. Furthermore, relief pitchers generally face fewer batters that starters. Relief pitcher ratings exclude pitchers with fewer than 3 batters faced.

Another batch of new best relievers this week. The max RPM this week is 52.07 vs last week’s 30.83 and the range went from 9 to 33! Huge changes and a huge gap in performance!

For reference, the lowest Relief Pitcher RPM value this week was -66.6.

The Top 10 Batters (week 8)

Top batters for week 8: May 14th through May 20th

From all new last week to three returning batters this week! Belt, Haniger, and Martinez are all currently in the top 25 players overall and only Martinez has made this list before.

Three of the top 10 are from the Cubs this week. The lowest RPM for a batter in week 6 was -51.76.