Major League Baseball

MLB Weekly Roundup: Joc Pederson heats up to spark Cubs' surge

Updated Jun. 14, 2021 12:24 p.m. ET

By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst

It’s time we start talking about how Jacob deGrom is in the midst of the most insane season in baseball history.

Last week, one of the things I said to watch was a fun Friday night matchup with the New York Mets and deGrom going up against the San Diego Padres. The two-time Cy Young winner certainly didn’t disappoint, giving up one hit and striking out 10 in six shutout innings.

That lowered his ERA to a mind-blowing 0.56.

Long story short: When I tell you in my weekly roundup to watch something, make sure you do.

With that said, let’s take a look back at some of the best things from the week that was in Major League Baseball, as well as look ahead at some of the best things to watch for in the coming week.

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK

With rain pouring down in Detroit earlier this week, Miguel Cabrera was none too pleased that the game was paused and the Tigers had to wait out a rain delay. The moment resulted in my favorite photo of the week.

SIX-TOOL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Man, oh man, the Chicago Cubs are on a roll, and Wrigley Field is back to full capacity. The Cubs have that place rocking and a big reason for that is Joc Pederson.

Pederson had quite the sluggish start to the season with his new team, but he raised his average this week from .232 to .250 while going deep in three consecutive games.

The former Dodger hit his first home run of the week on the road in San Diego on Wednesday, then trolled Fernando Tatis Jr. by doing Tatis’ signature home-run trot in front of his home crowd.

It was a fun and exciting week for Pederson, and that’s why he is this week’s Six-Tool Player.

For more up-to-date news on all things Cubs, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Mike Trout hasn’t played in a month, but the Los Angeles Angels have found a way to start playing great baseball.

The Angels won every single game they played this week, sweeping both the Kansas City Royals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Of course, those are teams they should beat, but if you look a bit further, they’ve also won eight of their last nine, 11 of their last 14, and 14 of their last 18.

Things are going better for the Angels, and they are getting themselves in a position to potentially make a run once Trout comes back.

For more up-to-date news on all things Angels, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

1. Angels at Athletics

The Angels travel to Oakland on Monday for a three-game series against the division-leading Athletics. This is a huge series for the Halos if they want to close the gap in the division.

2. Glasnow vs. Lynn

Monday night in Chicago , we get a fantastic pitching matchup. The Rays' Tyler Glasnow, who is 5-2 on the year with a 2.57 ERA goes up against the White Sox's Lance Lynn, who is 7-1 with a 1.28 ERA. Two former guests on the "Flippin' Bats" podcast are going head-to-head, and it certainly shapes up to be quite the pitchers' duel.

3. Atlanta Braves

It’s time to go for the Atlanta Braves. Just when you think this team has figured it out, they go on a losing streak to fall back below .500 on the season. The Braves were my prediction to win the World Series and now I’m more concerned about them just getting into the playoffs. They play the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals this week and desperately need to start winning games.

THIS WEEK ON THE POD

This week on "Flippin' Bats," my college teammate and current Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough joins the show! We discuss being college teammates, how he went from throwing 80 mph to 90 mph in one year, pitching in a World Series, and the funny story about how I heard we were going to be teammates.

Here’s to another very exciting week of Major League Baseball.

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @Verly32.