Kevin Gausman, Nolan Arenado named Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays has been chosen the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Gausman earned his first career Player of the Week Award and is Toronto’s second recipient this season, following his All-Star teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in June. Kevin is the first Blue Jays hurler to accomplish the feat since All-Star Robbie Ray last September during his Cy Young Award-winning 2021 campaign. Arenado claimed his eighth career Player of the Week Award and his second of the 2022 campaign, previously winning for the period ending April 10th. Nolan is joined by fellow All-Star Paul Goldschmidt as Cardinal players to take home multiple weekly honors this season.

Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays (@kevingausman34)

• The 2021 All-Star made a pair of starts for Toronto, tossing 14.0 scoreless innings while logging 15 strikeouts and permitting just a single walk and seven hits. Received the win in his lone decision.
• Became the second pitcher in Club history to tally at least 15 punchouts without permitting more than one walk across two consecutive scoreless appearances, joining Brandon Morrow, who accomplished the feat in April-May 2012.
• On August 2nd against Tampa Bay, became the first Blue Jays pitcher to log 8.0 scoreless innings without yielding more than one hit since his All-Star rotation-mate Alek Manoah last September. Marked the 19th such start overall in franchise history.
• The fourth overall selection in the 2010 MLB Draft tallied 132 strikeouts across his first 20 outings of the 2022 season, the third-most in a player’s first 20 career games with Toronto, trailing only Roger Clemens (166) and Robbie Ray (138).

Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals

• The seven-time All-Star batted .476 (10-for-21) with eight runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, four walks and a 1.000 slugging percentage over six games played.
• Clubbed his 22nd round-tripper of the season in yesterday’s win over the Yankees. 2022 marks his seventh career season with 20-or-more home runs. His seven such seasons since 2015 are tied with teammate Paul Goldschmidt and Anthony Rizzo for the most in the Majors during that span.
• Scored at least one run in a season-high four straight games from August 2nd-5th. Tallied at least one hit in every game this past week, including three multi-hit efforts.
• The four-time Silver Slugger Award winner is currently one of three Major Leaguers to bat .300-or-better (.301) with at least 20 doubles (26) and 20 home runs (22), and is joined by Boston’s Rafael Devers and his teammate Goldschmidt.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included rookie backstop MJ Melendez (5 R, 6 H, 3 HR, 10 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals; infielder Jorge Mateo (.350, 7 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI) of the Baltimore Orioles; outfielder Eloy Jiménez (.444, 4 R, 12 H, 6 RBI) of the Chicago White Sox; All-Star backstop Jose Trevino (.412, 7 H, 3 HR, 5 RBI) of the New York Yankees; outfielder Nick Gordon (.417, 5 R, 10 H, 4 XBH) of the Minnesota Twins; and All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker (.313, 5 R, 5 RBI, 9 BB) of the Seattle Mariners.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included All-Stars Pete Alonso (.367, 8 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Edwin Díaz (3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 7 SO, 0 BB) and Max Scherzer (2-0, 1.32 ERA, 16 SO, 2 BB) of the New York Mets; rookie starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 2 BB) of the Cincinnati Reds; All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts (.375, 8 R, 12 H, 6 XBH) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; shortstop José Iglesias (.379, 11 H, 4 2B, 4 RBI) of the Colorado Rockies; and first baseman Rhys Hoskins (.294, 7 R, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Home Run-Robbing Catch by Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves

August 5th at Citi Field – Watch It Here

All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves earned his second career Play of the Week Award, previously in August 2019, and is Atlanta’s first winner since his teammate Tyler Matzek in May 2021. In the bottom of the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field, Acuña Jr. ranged to deep right field and leapt to rob Pete Alonso of a two-run homer. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Sam Hilliard’s home run-robbing catch at Petco Park; Amed Rosario’s backhanded play and jump-throw across the diamond; Nolan Arenado’s diving stop and throw from his knees at third base; and Mauricio Dubón’s fully-extended diving catch in left-center field.