Aaron Judge, Nick Castellanos named Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet

All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has been chosen the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and outfielder Nick Castellanos of the Cincinnati Reds has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Judge earned his third career AL Player of the Week Award, most recently winning for the period ending September 24th during his Rookie of the Year-winning 2017 campaign. Aaron’s All-Star teammate DJ LeMahieu (July 1, 2019) was the most recent Yankees player to earn weekly honors. Castellanos claimed his second career weekly award, previously accomplishing the feat in the AL while a member of the Detroit Tigers in 2018 (August 19th). Nick is the first Reds winner since his teammate Aristides Aquino last year for the week ending August 11th.

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (@thejudge44)

• Posted a slash line of .368/.478/1.316 with nine runs scored, seven hits, six home runs, 13 RBI and two walks across five games played.
• In last night’s contest against the Boston Red Sox, became the 10th player in franchise history to homer in five consecutive games, and the first since Alex Rodriguez during his MVP Award-winning 2007 campaign. Only Don Mattingly (8 G, 1987), Roger Maris (6, 1961) and Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig (6, 1931) have recorded a longer home run streak in Yankees lore.
• Last night’s multi-homer game was the 10th of his career and his first since July 5th of last season against the Tampa Bay Rays.
• With six home runs on the season, Judge joins Rodriguez (six in 2007) and Hall of Famer Babe Ruth (five in 1932) as the only Yankees in history to collect six homers in the first eight games of a season.

Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati Reds

• Batted .429 (9-for-21) with seven runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, three walks and a 1.095 slugging percentage over six games.
• Among his NL counterparts, ranked first in slugging percentage and total bases (23), and tied for first in home runs and RBI.
• Has notched at least one hit in each of the Reds’ first nine games of the 2020 season, including three multi-hit efforts. Zack Cozart was the last Reds player to log a hitting streak of at least nine games to begin a season, registering a 10-game streak during his 2017 All-Star campaign.
• Recorded his seventh career multi-homer game in yesterday’s first contest of a doubleheader against the Tigers, and his first since doing so for the Chicago Cubs last season on August 30th against the Milwaukee Brewers.
• Other noteworthy AL performances last week included outfielder Teoscar Hernández (.375, 5 R, 4 HR, 1.125 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays; All-Star second baseman Whit Merrifield (.323, 8 R, 5 XBH, 8 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals; All-Star starting pitcher Shane Bieber (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 SO, 0 BB) of the Cleveland Indians; outfielder Kyle Lewis (.448, 4 R, 13 H, 5 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners; All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.391, 5 R, 5 XBH, 6 RBI) of the Red Sox; and starter Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.93 ERA, 12 SO, 1 BB) of the Oakland A’s.
• Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included infielder Donovan Solano (.571, 12 H, 4 XBH, 10 RBI) and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (.381, 9 R, 4 XBH, 5 RBI) of the San Francisco Giants; outfielder Charlie Blackmon (.500, 4 R, 11 H, 7 RBI) of the Colorado Rockies; starter Tyler Chatwood (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 SO, 2 BB) of the Cubs; shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (5 R, 4 XBH, 9 RBI, 2 SB) of the San Diego Padres; and Nick’s teammate Trevor Bauer (1-0, 1 CG SHO, 7 SO, 2 H).

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Outstanding throw by Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers

July 31st at ARI -- Watch It Here

All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned his first career Play of the Week honor and is the first Dodgers player to accomplish the feat since the award was introduced in 2019. With no outs in the bottom of the first inning in Friday night’s game against the Arizona D-backs, Betts fielded the ball in the deep right-field corner before delivering a throw on the fly to third base to tag out All-Star Ketel Marte. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Mike Brosseau’s diving stop on a sharp grounder; Kole Calhoun’s fully-extended diving catch in right field; Victor Robles’ leaping catch against the outfield wall to rob an extra-base hit; and Nolan Arenado’s impressive range to make a sliding grab while covering 111 feet.