MLB Team of the Week: Joey Meneses breaks out after long-awaited call-up

By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst

Joey Meneses spent 11 years in the minor leagues. One might ask, “Why grind it out in the minors for not much money for more than a decade?”

For the answer to that question, look no further than what Meneses did this past week. On Aug. 2, after 11 years in professional baseball, the first baseman finally got the call-up he had been dreaming of.

In his first game in the big leagues, Meneses was tasked with facing Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets. Although he went hitless against deGrom, he later homered in his first game in the bigs.

Meneses went on to hit .500 on the week, with four home runs, six RBIs and an OPS over 1.900. He tallied 14 hits in his first 10 games, which is a Washington Nationals record.

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Welcome to my team of the week, where I go position by position picking the best performer at each spot from the week that was, led this week by none other than Meneses.

C Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers

Since entering the league in 2019, Smith has been one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. He continues to be underrated because of the incredible lineup he’s a part of.

This week, Smith hit .333 with a home run and five RBIs.

2B Brendan Rodgers, Colorado Rockies

The former no. 1 pick is putting together the best year of his career. He’s tied for third among MLB second basemen with 25 doubles, and of those top three, he is the only one with 50-plus RBIs.

This week, Rodgers hit .389 with one home run and 5 RBIs.

3B Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals

Arenado continues to be fantastic, and this week, he added four home runs to his total, making him one of only two MLB third basemen with 25 or more home runs (the other is Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves).

Arenado hit .346 this week and tallied nine RBIs to go with his four homers.

SS Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals have been searching for an answer at the shortstop position for a while now. A couple of years ago, DeJong appeared to be a solution for them, but then he really struggled after his dazzling 2017 rookie season.

However, he appears to be turning it around of late, and this week, he hit .455 with two homers and seven RBIs.

OF Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros

Tucker has been great for the Astros lately. He hit .400 on the week, with nine RBIs and two homers.

Tucker is heating up at the right time for the Astros as they push towards the playoffs with their eyes on the AL’s No. 1 seed.

OF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Judge is having a phenomenal year, and he didn’t slow down any this week. He added three home runs to his season total and is on pace to hit 65, which would break Roger Maris’ single-season Yankees record (61).

Judge hit .389 and drove in seven runs on the week.

OF Andrew Vaughn, Chicago White Sox

Vaughn has been an unsung hero for the White Sox this season. If they wind up winning their division and getting into the playoffs, Vaughn’s career year will be a big reason for it.

He entered Sunday ninth among AL outfielders in OBP, at .351. This week, he hit .400 with two homers and six RBIs.

DH Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers

Muncy hasn’t had the greatest year, especially compared to what we’ve seen from him in the past.

This week, however, we saw Muncy at his best. He hit .500 with three homers and seven RBIs. If he can get back to his old self, the Dodgers will be even scarier than they already are.

SP Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

DeGrom is back and looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. In his two starts last week, he threw 11.2 innings and struck out 22.

Since returning to the mound, deGrom leads all starting pitchers with 28 strikeouts. His ERA on the week was 1.54, and his WHIP was an astonishing 0.34.

CP Camilo Doval, San Francisco Giants

Doval was fantastic last week, tallying four saves in four innings pitched and giving up only one hit. He entered Sunday sixth in save percentage, at 89.5% (minimum 10 save attempts).

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 @Ben Verlander.

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