I hate myself for that headline. I’ve been resisting the low-hanging headline fruit for two weeks now, but I had to pull the trigger this time.
Mostly, I did it because earlier today, MLB tweeted this out, conspicuously omitting the obvious best performer in the league this week:
Some great hitting and pitching performances last week.
Let us know who you think Carried the Freight the most. ⬇️
— MLB (@MLB) June 7, 2021
So it was with great wisdom, then, that the league corrected its mistake – at least partially – and named Patrick Wisdom the National League’s Player of the Week:
No doubt about it.@PatrickWisdom5 is the NL Player of the Week! #CubTogether pic.twitter.com/Hmjtqle7pZ
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 7, 2021
We don’t know what comes next for Wisdom as the league and its pitchers adjust, and we can project that he probably won’t continue to have the most obscene hard contact rate and perfect barrel rate. But as long as there’s a spot to start him and as long as he looks competent up there, you have to let him keep riding, even if the results slump a bit. Heck, they could slump a lotta bit from here and he’d still be dang good.