Major League Baseball

Mike Trout, Pete Alonso headline Ben Verlander's MLB team of the week

Updated Apr. 10, 2023 5:11 p.m. ET

The 2023 MLB season is off and running!

We completed our first full week of baseball just a couple of days ago. That gave FOX Sports MLB analyst Ben Verlander seven full days of data to inform his second Team of the Week.

This iteration is based on the games from April 2 through April 8.

Let's check out Ben's top squad for the week, along with what he said about the players!

C: Will Smith, Dodgers — Seven-day stats: .300 batting average, three home runs, seven RBIs

How good has Will Smith been to start the year? Everybody kind of writes him off in the conversation for best catcher in baseball. I don't know if it's because he has the name Will Smith, which makes it tougher to stand out because he isn't the first person that shows up when you Google his name. I think he continues to be underrated and undervalued. He had another great week.

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1B: Pete Alonso, Mets — Seven-day stats: .218 batting average, four home runs, eight RBIs

Are there first basemen who have hit better than him average-wise this season? Certainly. However, the majority of Pete Alonso's hits this season have been homers. He hit four home runs on the week with eight RBIs. That's how dominant he was. I love home runs. I love power. That's what Pete Alonso had this week. There were some other names like Vlad Guerrero Jr. that I could've put in this spot, but with what Alonso did power-wise when the Mets' offense needed it the most, it was too tough not to put him here.

2B: Gleyber Torres, Yankees — Seven-day stats: .529 batting average, one home run, four RBIs and four stolen bases

He's off to a great start with this Yankees squad. I said this a lot about the Yankees coming into the season: their offense is essentially the same as it was last season. They didn't add that huge piece. They got Aaron Judge back, but it was essentially the same lineup. Not if Torres is hitting like this, though.

3B: Brian Anderson, Brewers - Seven-day stats: .421 batting average, three home runs and 10 RBIs

What Brian Anderson is doing for the Milwaukee Brewers can't be understated. He came over to Milwaukee this offseason and wasn't viewed as a huge pickup. But he's been an essential key for this offense. He's raking and dominating.

SS: Wander Franco, Rays — Seven-day stats: .280 batting average, two home runs and four RBIs

This is the prospect that everyone knew and expected to come up and be the best prospect in the game. That's what we've gotten. He's still 22 years old! The guy made his debut when he was 20 and we've seen him take off to turn into a key piece for this Rays offense that kind of needs that star, stud guy.

OF: Bryan Reynolds, Pirates — Seven-day stats: .424 batting average, five home runs, 14 RBIs, two stolen bases

Bryan Reynolds has been the best player in baseball this season. That's how dominant he's been. He's hitting .405 this season with five home runs, 14 RBIs and has two stolen bases. He's just simply having the best year so far in the game of baseball.

OF: Luis Robert Jr., White Sox - Seven-day stats: .444 batting average, four home runs and 10 RBIs

When Luis Robert Jr. came up to the majors, he was just Luis Robert. Adding the junior to his name has done wonders for his baseball career. I said when he came up that this guy would win an MVP someday. He never really took off though due to injury and his consistency was never that great. I get we're just a few games into the year. But what he has done so far this season, hitting .444 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, that is domination.

OF: Mike Trout, Angels — Seven-day stats: .346 batting average, three home runs and eight RBIs.

The first two games Trout played at home this year he tried to put a hole in the windshield of a truck that they have out there in deep left-center field. Trout's been on fire to start the season. He's hitting .346 with three home runs and eight RBIs over the last week. Pretty, pretty dominant. I have a feeling he'll be here a lot this year. The world just needs a full, healthy season of Mike Trout — 150-plus games, just give us that. For the love of God, that would be great.

DH: Evan Longoria, Diamondbacks — Seven-day stats: .714 batting average, two home runs and two RBIs

A blast from the past! The guy still rakes. He had a .714 batting average this past week with two home runs and two RBIs. Longoria is in this Diamondbacks lineup that is full of very young players that, to be honest with you, you can't count on over the course of an entire season to produce consistently. They're all in their early 20s. You're going to have ups and downs with those guys. So, having a veteran in the middle of that lineup that's producing like this is huge.

SP: Jeffrey Springs, Rays - Seven-day stats: 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 0.54 WHIP and 13 innings pitched

Jeffrey Springs had two starts within our timeline and went 2-0. Most importantly, he had a zero ERA with 19 strikeouts and a 0.54 WHIP in 13 innings pitched. Just domination. That's how good he's been. There's just no doubt about it that he's had the best week for a pitcher so far.

CP: Josh Hader, Padres — Seven-day stats: Three saves, 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts.

Three saves, six strikeouts — that's pretty dominant. Let's be honest, before Hader had that weird, weird little stretch last season where he was not very good, he was the best closer in baseball. He went through that stretch and Edwin Díaz came along and took that title away from him. With Díaz out, he's certainly the best closer in the game right now.

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