Players of the Week: May 20-26 2013

RotoValue makes it easy to see player statistics for any date range, so today I’m going to link to recaps of the week for three different league configurations.
First, 5×5 Mixed:
http://www.rotovalue.com/cgi-bin/Search?year=2013&league=4&start_date=20130520&end_date=20130526
MVP: Mike Trout. Trout hit .462 with 2 HR, 10 runs scored, 7 RBI, and 4 SB. Trout had a relatively slow start (.261 in April), but since May 1st he’s been the most valuable player in fantasy baseball. Miguel Cabrera still has more overall value YTD, but Trout contributes in all 5 offensive categories, and could still wind up as the seasonal MVP.
Top Pitcher: Max Scherzer won both his starts, fanning 13 batters in 14 innings, with a microscopic 0.643 WHIP and a 1.29 ERA. Patrick Corbin and Alex Cobb also won twice, with strong peripheral numbers, but Scherzer edges them both out. Honorable mention goes to Anibal Sanchez, who had a no-hitter broken up in the 9th inning, settling for a 12-strikout, 1-hit shutout, easily the dominant performance of the week. But when other pitchers get two wins with good ERA/WHIP, even a perfect game is not going to be as valuable.
NL Only 4×4: http://www.rotovalue.com/cgi-bin/Search?year=2013&league=24&start_date=20130520&end_date=20130526
MVP: Andrew McCutchen hit .400 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, and 3 SB, edging out Dan Uggla and Domonic Brown for the top spot. It was an odd week, in that none of the top average hitters of the week had more than 4 RBI. Uggla’s 8 was the second-highest total, but he only hit .250. Domonic Brown had 7 RBI and a .348 average. McCutcheon’s 3SB tied for the league lead with teammate Starling Marte.
Top Pitcher: Patrick Corbin continued his breakout year, following a stellar complete game 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts with a gritty win to go to 8-0 on the year. His starts combined for a 2.40 ERA and a 0.867 WHIP. Runner-up was Aroldis Chapman, who went 4-4 in save chances, giving up just 2 hits and 1 walk in 4 innings, with 9 strikeouts.
The 5×5 NL had Freddie Freeman (.310, 2 HR, 8 R, 9 RBI, 0 SB) as the MVP of the week, as he led the league in both runs scored and RBI. Corbin was still the top pitcher, but Stephen Strasburg had two better starts overall (1.20 ERA), and 16 Ks in 15 innings, but despite 7 innings of 1-run ball, he got a no-decision against the Giants, and thus had only 1 win on the week. Counting strikeouts as a category did move Strasburg ahead of Chapman in overall value.
For this week format didn’t matter nearly as much in the AL, as Trout was by far the most valuable batter in both the 4×4 and 5×5 AL-only leagues, with Scherzer clearly the top pitcher in both formats. Cobb (1.82 ERA, 0.682 WHIP, 10 K) was closer to Scherzer in the 4×4 format, where strikeouts don’t count. Also posting two strong wins were Jerome Williams and Bartolo Colon, each posting a 1.29 ERA, but both had a relatively high 1.214 WHIP to rank well behind Scherzer and Cobb.
Trout’s 5 category dominance made him easily the most valuable player, but Chris Davis (.480, 4 HR, 7 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB) did have a fine week also, held back in comparison by his lack of SB and fewer runs/RBI.