Christian Yelich and Tim Beckham named W.B. Mason Players of the Week
Reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week, and in his debut week as a member of the Seattle Mariners, infielder Tim Beckham has been named the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Yelich claimed his fourth career NL Player of the Week Award (last: September 23, 2018). The last Brewers player other than Yelich to win Player of the Week was Aramis Ramirez for the period ending July 5, 2015. Beckham earned his second career AL Player of the Week Award, previously winning for the week ending August 6, 2017 while a member of the Baltimore Orioles. Nelson Cruz was Seattle’s most recent Player of the Week winner, doing so last year on June 25th.
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (@ChristianYelich)
-- Posted a slash line of .500/.667/1.583 with six runs scored, six hits, a double, four home runs, eight RBI and six walks over four games played.
-- Among his NL peers, finished the period first in extra-base hits (5), slugging percentage and walks; tied for first in home runs and RBI; second in total bases (19); and tied for second in on-base percentage.
-- Registered his fifth career walk-off hit, and first since June 2, 2016, on Sunday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals (see it here). Also clubbed his fourth home run of the season in the contest.
-- Became the sixth player in MLB history to homer in each of his Club’s first four games of a season, joining Hall of Famer Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998), Nelson Cruz (2011), Chris Davis (2013) and Trevor Story (2016). Dating back to 2018, he has clubbed nine round-trippers over his last 12 regular season games.
-- His eight RBI through the Club’s first four games match Gorman Thomas (1978), Cecil Cooper (1978), Sixto Lezcano (1980) and Ben Oglivie (1982) for the second-most in franchise history.
Tim Beckham, Seattle Mariners (@t_beckham1)
-- Batted .435 (10-for-23) with eight runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, six RBI and four walks across six games played, including two games during the 2019 MGM MLB Opening Series in Tokyo.
-- Finished the week first in hits; tied for first in runs scored and total bases (21); second in slugging percentage (.913); tied for second in home runs and extra-base hits (5); and tied for fourth in RBI among AL sluggers.
-- Has tallied a hit in each of Seattle’s first six games, including multi-hit efforts in three straight contests to begin the campaign (March 20th-28th). Became the 11th Mariners player, and the first since Justin Smoak (2014), to notch three multi-hit games to begin a season.
-- Recorded his fourth career multi-homer game on Thursday against the Boston Red Sox, and his first since September 23rd of last season while playing for the Orioles (see them both here).
-- Became the sixth player in Mariners history to club at least three round-trippers in the team’s first three game of a season, joining Gorman Thomas (1985), Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (1997), David Segui (1998), Mike Morse (2013) and Robinson Canó (2016).
Other noteworthy performances last week in the NL included outfielders Cody Bellinger (.500, 7 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI) and Joc Pederson (.467, 8 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (.375, 4 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI) of the St. Louis Cardinals; shortstop Trea Turner (.385, 3 XBH, 4 RBI, 4 SB) of the Washington Nationals; and starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 6 SO) of the Miami Marlins. Other noteworthy performances in the AL were Tim’s teammates Domingo Santana (.308, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and Ryon Healy (.360, 8 R, 6 2B, 2 HR); infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera (.455, 3 R, 3 XBH, 5 RBI) of the Texas Rangers; All-Star J.D. Martinez (.412, 4 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox; outfielder Khris Davis (4 R, 6 H, 4 HR, 8 RBI) of the Oakland Athletics; and All Star starting pitcher José Berríos (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 10 SO) of the Minnesota Twins.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
Home run-robbing catch by Lorenzo Cain of the Milwaukee Brewers
March 28th vs. STL – Watch It Here
All-Star center fielder Lorenzo Cain of the Milwaukee Brewers claimed the inaugural Play of the Week. With two outs in the ninth inning of Thursday’s Opening Day game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Cain reached over the wall to make a game-saving catch, preserving a 5-4 win. Additional Play of the Week candidates included All-Star Mookie Betts’ spectacular catch in right field of Saturday’s game against the Mariners; Gerardo Parra’s play from right field to throw out the runner at first with the bases loaded in yesterday’s contest between the Giants and Padres; Joey Rickard’s diving catch in right field of Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium; and Matt Andriese’s behind-the-back-snag to prevent a run in extra innings of a tied game between the D-backs and Dodgers.