MLB announces Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Five-time All-Star J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox and four-time All-Star Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who set a new single-season American League home run record on Tuesday night, have been chosen the American League Co-Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and first baseman Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Martinez earned his 10th career Player of the Week Award and his first since April 2021. With the honor, Martinez becomes the 20th player all-time to earn at least 10 Player of the Week selections. He is the third Boston player to win this season, joining Trevor Story (May 23rd) and Xander Bogaerts (September 6th). Judge’s selection was the seventh of his career and third of this season (also July 25th and August 1st). The only other Yankees player to win this year was Matt Carpenter (July 18th). Olson claimed his first career Player of the Week Award and is Atlanta’s second recipient this season, joining Austin Riley (July 11th).
J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox (@jdmartinez28)
- Hit .353 (12-for-34) with nine runs scored, three doubles, four home runs, seven RBI and two walks to go along with a .794 slugging percentage across nine games.
- The 35-year-old closed out his 2022 campaign with a two-homer, four-RBI performance in a 6-3 win against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
- Slugged a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning vs. Baltimore on Thursday, marking his 13th career go-ahead home run in the eighth inning-or later, and his first since August 28, 2021 in the 10th inning at Cleveland.
- The Miami native registered two hits in five of his nine games played, including back-to-back multi-hit contests on September 26th-27th vs. Baltimore.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (@thejudge44)
On Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers, the four-time All-Star slugged his 62nd home run of the season to pass Roger Maris (61 in 1961) for the most homers in a single season in AL history.
Clubbed his record-tying 61st homer of the season last Wednesday at Toronto in an 8-3 victory.
Registered a .487 on-base percentage across nine games played with six hits and 12 walks.
Finished the 2022 campaign just shy of a Triple Crown, leading the AL in home runs and RBI (131), while finishing second in the league with a .311 batting average, behind only Minnesota’s Luis Arraez (.316), who claimed the Rod Carew AL Batting Title.
Matt Olson_, Atlanta Braves (__@matt_olson21)
- Batted .375 (12-for-32) with nine runs scored, one double, six home runs, 11 RBI, five walks and a .969 slugging percentage in nine games played.
- The Georgia native produced hits in eight of his nine games, including four multi-hit performances.
- The 28-year-old homered in four consecutive games beginning with Wednesday’s contest at Washington and culminating with a homer in each game of a three-game set vs. New York in Atlanta.
- Started his award-winning week with a home run and three RBI in an 8-0 win at Washington last Monday.
- Finished the season with 34 home runs and reached the 30-homer mark for a third time since 2019 to become one of six players in the Majors to do so.
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included outfielder Mitch Haniger (.345, 6 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, .793 SLG) of the Seattle Mariners; All-Star outfielder Mike Trout (.355, 6 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 3 RBI, .774 SLG), two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 3 H, 16 SO; .297, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI), pitcher Michael Lorenzen (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 6 H, 15 SO) and infielder/outfielder Taylor Ward (.389, 6 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander (1-0, 0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 18 SO) of the Houston Astros; and second baseman Whit Merrifield (.467, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .633 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included outfielder Bryan De La Cruz (.389, 6 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, .694 SLG) of the Miami Marlins; outfielder Brandon Nimmo (.407, 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .704 SLG) and All-Star Jeff McNeil (.483, 6 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .724 SLG) of the New York Mets, who claimed the Tony Gwynn NL Batting Title; All-Star slugger Albert Pujols (.400, 7 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1.067 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; rookie pitcher Hunter Greene (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 18 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; pitcher Eric Lauer (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 1 H, 16 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; and Olson’s teammate Kenley Jansen (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 4 SV, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 8 SO) of the Braves.
Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Outstanding Stop and Throw by Romy Gonzalez of the Chicago White Sox
October 5th at Guaranteed Rate Field – Watch It Here
Rookie infielder Romy Gonzalez of the Chicago White Sox earned his first career Play of the Week Award, and it marks the first by a White Sox player since the award was introduced in 2019. In the top of the seventh inning against the visiting Minnesota Twins, Gonzalez made a diving stop and terrific throw to first to take away a hit from Jermaine Palacios. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Jace Peterson’s diving grab at third; Willson Contreras’ catch up against the netting; Harrison Bader’s diving grab in deep center field; Tony Kemp’s acrobatic catch; Livan Soto’s impressive play on a hot shot to short; Gio Urshela’s long throw across the diamond; and Jo Adell’s leaping catch at the wall.