2 first-time winners earn Player of the Week honors

Houston outfielder Chas McCormick and Washington shortstop CJ Abrams each put together a strong weekend in their return from the All-Star break, which earned them MLB’s first Player of the Week Award presented by Chevrolet for the second half.

• All-time winners

Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker also earned Play of the Week honors for his incredible diving catch against the Nationals on Saturday.

McCormick tallied seven hits in the Astros' weekend series vs. the Angels to go along with three home runs, five RBIs and three walks. McCormick’s best game came in the finale, when he hit two home runs against the Angels’ bullpen, with the second coming off All-Star closer Carlos Estévez. It was the second multi-home run game of McCormick’s career.

It's the first career Player of the Week Award for McCormick, who is in his third season.

Much like McCormick, Abrams hit everything in sight in over the weekend, going 6-for-13 (.462) with a double, triple and home run in the Nationals' series against the Cardinals. Abrams tallied two hits in every game of the series, went deep on Saturday and tallied a double and triple on Sunday.

This is also Abrams’ first career Player of the Week win.

Walker earned Play of the Week honors when he made an incredible diving catch in right field in the eighth inning of the Cardinals’ game against Abrams’ Nationals on Friday. With a runner on second and no one out, Washington’s Riley Adams popped a ball up to short right field that Walker sprinted in on, going 94 feet before sacrificing his body to snare the ball before it hit the ground.

Walker’s catch kept the Cardinals’ lead at 8-4, and they’d go on to win, 9-6.