Lawrence Butler of the Oakland Athletics named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Oakland Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler has been selected the American League Player of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet, and on the heels of being named the NL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet earlier today, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder **Corbin Carroll has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Butler also claimed his second career honor after previously winning earlier this year on July 15th. The Athletics now have three awards this season, with Butler joining his teammate Brent Rooker, who won on May 6th. Carroll earned his second career award after previously winning on June 12th last year. It is the second award for the Diamondbacks this season after Carroll’s teammate, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., won on April 1st. It is the second time this season that both Weekly Award winners are 24-or-younger, following wins by Butler and Rece Hinds on July 15th. Butler and Harris are alumni of MLB Develops programming, having participated in the Breakthrough Series and the Elite Development Invitational/Hank Aaron Invitational, as well as the Nike RBI program. Harris is also an alumnus of the DREAM Series. Of note, both Georgia natives are also alumni of the Marquis Grissom Baseball Academy run by Marquis Grissom, who has routinely been a coach of MLB Develops events since its inception.
Lawrence Butler, Oakland Athletics (@z4law)
- The 24-year-old hit .500 (14-for-28) with six homers, 10 RBI, three doubles, a walk, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, a 1.250 slugging percentage and a .517 on-base percentage in six games last week.
- The Georgia native led the Majors in homers, slugging, OPS (1.767), extra-base hits (9) and total bases (35); ranked second in batting average and hits (14); and tied for third in on-base percentage.
- The sixth-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft crushed three home runs and drove home four runs on Thursday at Cincinnati, marking his second career three-homer game (also: 7/14 at Philadelphia). He is one of three players in Major League history aged 24-or-younger with multiple three-homer games in a single season, joining Mookie Betts (5/31/2016 and 8/14/2016) and Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (8/16/1947 and 9/11/1947). Butler is one of 11 players in Baseball history with at least two three-homer games prior to their 25th birthday and the first to join the club since Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- The outfielder tallied an RBI in five straight games from Tuesday through Saturday, driving in multiple runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Cincinnati. He joins Shea Langeliers (7/5-7/12) as the only Athletics players since 2022 with an RBI in five consecutive games. Butler finished the series against the Reds with eight RBI, marking the most in a three-game series by an Athletics player since he also drove home eight runs in the three-game set with Philadelphia in July. Prior to Butler, Stephen Piscotty was the last Oakland player with at least eight RBI in a three-game series, accomplishing the feat against San Francisco in August 2020.
- Butler is riding a career-high 12-game hitting streak since August 21st, during which he is batting .420 (21-for-50) with seven homers, 13 RBI, five doubles, two walks, 14 runs scored, three stolen bases, a .940 slugging percentage and a 1.382 OPS. It is the longest streak by an Athletics player since Ramón Laureano hit in 12 consecutive games from May 26-June 8, 2022.
Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks (@corbin.carroll)
- The 24-year-old hit .391 (9-for-23) with five homers, 11 RBI, a double, two walks, eight runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.087 slugging percentage and a .423 on-base percentage in six games last week.
- The Seattle native tied for the Major League lead in RBI; ranked second in slugging and OPS (1.510); tied for third in total bases (25); tied for fourth in extra-base hits (6); and tied for fifth in runs.
- The reigning NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year had a two-homer, five-RBI game on August 28th against the Mets. Trailing 5-3 in the eighth inning, Carroll hit a go-ahead, two-out, grand slam to put Arizona up 7-5, marking his second career grand slam (also: 6/9/2023 at DET). It was the ninth go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning-or-later in Diamondbacks’ history and the first since Jake Lamb’s two-out, eighth-inning blast on August 29, 2014.
- A 2023 All-Star in his hometown of Seattle, Carroll hit an inside-the-park home run to lead off the game on August 31st against the Dodgers. The homer was the 22nd inside-the-park homer in Diamondbacks’ history and the first in leadoff fashion. It was the first leadoff inside-the-park home run in the Majors since Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays on May 24, 2022.
- The 16th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft has reached base in each of his last 41 starts dating back to July 7th, marking the longest such streak of his career. He is the first Diamondbacks player to reach base safely in 41 consecutive starts, surpassing the previous franchise record of 39 straight starts by Jay Bell from June 27-August 17, 1998. It is the longest streak in the Majors since Paul Goldschmidt reached base safely in 46 consecutive starts for the Cardinals in 2022.
Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included Houston Astros All-Star designated hitter/outfielder Yordan Alvarez (.444, 5 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, 1.000 SLG, .500 OBP) and his rookie teammate starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.2 IP, 2 H, 4 B, 11 SO), who was named the AL Rookie of the Month earlier today; outfielder Mickey Moniak (.444, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1.167 SLG) of the Los Angeles Angels; Butler’s teammate, designated hitter Brent Rooker (.400, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .800 SLG) of the Athletics; starting pitcher Brayan Bello (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 SO) and All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran (.393, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 1 BB, 6 R, .857 SLG) of the Boston Red Sox; All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (.429, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 7 R, .810 SLG) of the New York Yankees; All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.400, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 R), rookie second baseman Will Wagner (.474, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 4 R, .947 SLG) and starting pitcher José Berríos (2-0, 1.32 ERA, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 11 H, 1 BB, 11 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays; first baseman Spencer Torkelson (.333, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 4 R, .750 SLG), outfielder Kerry Carpenter (.316, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 4 R, .632 SLG) and closer Jason Foley (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; outfielder Josh Lowe (.409, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .818 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and starting pitcher Alex Cobb (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians.
Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (.556, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, .852 SLG, .586 OBP) of the St. Louis Cardinals; shortstop Willy Adames (.323, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 1 BB, 7 R, 1 SB, .806 SLG), outfielder Garrett Mitchell (.462, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 BB, 5 R, 2 SB, 1.154 SLG) and closer Devin Williams (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 4 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; first baseman Matt Olson (.367, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 2B, 1 BB, 9 R, .833 SLG) of the Atlanta Braves; rookie outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (.458, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 9 R, 3 SB, .500 OBP), shortstop Dansby Swanson (.348, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 2B, 4 BB, 9 R, 1 SB) and catcher Miguel Amaya (.389, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 3 R, .421 OBP) of the Chicago Cubs; starting pitcher Sean Manaea (2-0, 1.98 ERA, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 16 SO) of the New York Mets; starting pitchers Aaron Nola (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) and All-Star Zack Wheeler (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 13 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; third baseman Manny Machado (.333, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .700 SLG) of the San Diego Padres; and outfielder Kyle Stowers (.400, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 4 R, .760 SLG) of the Miami Marlins.
Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Epic Home Run Robbery By Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves
August 31st at Citizens Bank Park – Watch It Here
Center fielder Michael Harris II of the Braves earned his first career Play of the Week Award and the Braves’ second of the year after Austin Riley won on August 19th for his incredible diving stop and long throw to first. Overall, it is the ninth honor for Atlanta, which is now tied with the Mets and Blue Jays for the third-most of any club behind only Baltimore’s 13 awards and Milwaukee’s 10 awards. The Braves and Mets are the only two franchises to claim a Play of the Week at least once every year since the inception of the award in 2019. With Philadelphia leading 2-0 and no outs in the seventh inning, Austin Hays hit a ball to deep center field as Harris ranged back and leapt over the short wall, nearly falling into the bullpen to make the catch. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Travis Jankowski’s game-saving home run robbery; Greg Weissert’s diving catch to begin the double play; Brenton Doyle’s diving catch and quick throw to third for the out; Leo Jiménez's tumbling grab into the netting; Aaron Judge’s leaping catch to start the double play; Tyrone Taylor’s leaping grab into the netting; and Blake Perkins’ home run robbery.