Justin Verlander, Yadier Molina Named W.B. Mason Players of the Week

Following his third career no-hitter on Sunday, All-Star starting pitcher Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros has been chosen the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week, and catcher Yadier Molina of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Verlander earned his ninth career AL Player of the Week Award, most recently doing so last season for the week ending September 17th, and is the third Astros winner this season (also: George Springer and Yuli Gurriel). Justin now owns the fourth-most Player of the Week Awards by a pitcher since the award began in 1973, trailing only Nolan Ryan (13), Roger Clemens (11) and Randy Johnson (10). Molina, a nine-time All-Star, claimed his first career NL Player of the Week Award and is the first Cardinals player to take home weekly honors since his teammate Matt Carpenter for the period ending August 6, 2018.

In recognition of their Player of the Week Awards, Justin Verlander and Yadier Molina will each be awarded a specially engraved watch courtesy of Artinian.

Justin Verlander, Houston Astros (@justinverlander)

• Earned a pair of wins after making two scoreless starts for the Astros, including a no-hitter on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays. Across 14.1 innings pitched, notched 18 strikeouts while permitting just four hits and a one walk.
• Following Sunday’s gem, Verlander joined Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, Cy Young and Ryan, as well as Larry Corcoran, as the only pitchers in history with at least three career no-hitters. Only Ryan (7) and Koufax (4) have thrown more. Became the first pitcher ever to throw multiple no-hitters in the same road stadium (Rogers Centre).
• Enters play today with 257 strikeouts on the season and trails only his All-Star rotation-mate Gerrit Cole (266) for the Major League lead. Joins Johnson (9), Ryan (8), Max Scherzer (5) and Clemens (5) as the only pitchers in Major League history to amass at least 250 strikeouts in five-or-more seasons.
• Along with Cole, the duo are the first pair of teammates to each record 250 strikeouts in consecutive seasons since Johnson and Curt Schilling for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001-02.
• Enters play today with 2,963 career strikeouts over his 15-year-career and remains just 37 punchouts shy of becoming the 18th member of the 3,000-strikeout club.

Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals (@yadier_marciano_molina)

• Across six games played, posted a slash line of .579/.636/1.368 with seven runs scored, 11 hits, three doubles, four home runs, eight RBI and 26 total bases.
• Among NL leaders, the defensive stalwart finished his outstanding week first in batting average and slugging percentage; second in home runs, total bases and on-base percentage; and tied for second in extra-base hits (7).
• Recorded his seventh career multi-homer game on Tuesday, the most all-time by a Cardinals backstop. Also logged a double as part of a three-hit day to lead St. Louis to a 6-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
• Posted his best month of the 2019 season in August, slashing .333/.412/.583 with 12 runs scored, 20 hits, seven extra-base hits and 12 RBI.
• Began the week with multiple hits in four consecutive games from August 26th-31st.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included All-Stars Xander Bogaerts (.435, 4 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI) and J.D. Martinez (.450, 7 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox; designated hitter Nelson Cruz (.480, 12 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI), starting pitcher Michael Pineda (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 17 SO) and All-Star shortstop Jorge Polanco (.500, 8 R, 12 H, .667 SLG) of the Minnesota Twins; outfielder Anthony Santander (.400, 3 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI) of the Baltimore Orioles; August’s AL Pitcher of the Month Mike Clevinger (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 SO, 0 BB) of the Cleveland Indians; relief pitcher Ian Kennedy (4 G, 0.00 ERA, 3 SV, 5 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; first baseman Mike Ford (.353, 4 R, 4 HR, 5 RBI) of the New York Yankees; and Springer (.350, 5 R, 3 XBH, 9 RBI).

Other noteworthy NL performances were third baseman Anthony Rendon (.563, 8 R, 5 XBH, 7 RBI), outfielder Juan Soto and starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 14 SO, 0 BB) of the Washington Nationals; third baseman Eugenio Suárez (.367, 8 R, 5 HR, 8 RBI) of the Cincinnati Reds; All-Star first baseman Josh Bell (.407, 5 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI), third baseman Colin Moran (.393, 4 R, 4 XBH, 8 RBI), shortstop Kevin Newman (.464, 7 R, 5 XBH, 8 RBI) and rookie outfielder Bryan Reynolds (.412, 14 H, 4 2B, 6 RBI) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; backstop Wilson Ramos (.500, 12 H, 3 2B, 3 RBI) of the New York Mets; and Yadi’s teammate Kolten Wong (.688, 11 H, 6 XBH, 6 RBI).

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Home Run-Robbing Catch by Delino DeShields Jr. of the Texas Rangers

August 28__th at LAA – Watch It Here

Outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. of the Texas Rangers earned his first career Play of the Week honor and the first for the Rangers this season. In the bottom of the third inning during Wednesday’s tilt against the Los Angeles Angels, DeShields tracked down a fly ball and leaped at the center-field wall to take a home run away from Brian Goodwin. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Nick Senzel’s leaping catch in center field before crashing into the outfield wall; Harrison Bader’s diving catch after chasing down a fly ball in right-center field; Ryan McMahon’s run-saving diving stop on a ground ball before firing over to first base to retire the runner; Eugenio Suárez’s backhanded stop before making a long jump-throw to first base from foul territory; and Brett Phillips’ fully-extended diving catch after charging in from center field.