New York’s Pete Alonso named National League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet; Baltimore’s Colton Cowser Named American League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet

First baseman Pete Alonso of the New York Mets has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Baltimore Orioles rookie outfielder Colton Cowser has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Alonso won his fourth career weekly honor after previously winnning on June 24, 2019; September 26, 2022; and July 30, 2023. He is the first Mets player to take home a weekly award since his win last July and he is the first Met to win four awards since his former teammate Noah Syndergaard won once in 2015 and 2016 and twice in 2019. Cowser won his first career honor and is the first Orioles player to win since his teammate Gunnar Henderson won last season on June 12^th. Each of the last three Orioles to win Player of the Week have been rookies, including Cowser, Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle in 2021.

Pete Alonso, New York Mets (@polarpete20)

• The 29-year-old hit .429 (9-for-21) with four home runs, seven RBI, a double, six walks, eight runs scored and a 1.048 slugging percentage in six games.
• The Florida native tied for the Major League lead in homers; led the NL in slugging, OPS (1.604) and total bases (22); ranked second in the NL in on-base percentage (.556) and runs; tied for second in walks and extra-base hits (5); tied for third in RBI; and ranked fourth in batting average.
• The three-time All-Star went 9-for-15 (.600) with multiple hits in four straight games from Tuesday through Saturday, marking the second time in his career that he recorded at least two hits in four straight games, also accomplishing the feat in May of 2022.
• The 2019 and 2021 Home Run Derby Champion belted two home runs on Saturday against Kansas City. It was his 20^th career multi-homer game, which are second-most in MLB since 2019 behind only Aaron Judge (27).
• The 2019 National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year drove home three runs on Wednesday at Atlanta and on Saturday against the Royals, marking six of his 10 RBI this year. Four of his five home runs this season have come in the eighth inning or later and his homer in the third inning on Saturday marked his second game-tying home run of the year.
• The University of Florida product leads the Mets with 13 runs scored this season, scoring at least once in each of his last six games and in 10 of his 15 games this year. His current six-game streak with a run scored is tied for the second-longest stretch in his career behind a seven-game streak in August of 2021.

Colton Cowser, Baltimore Orioles (@coltoncowser)

• The 24-year-old hit .435 (10-for-23) with four home runs, 12 RBI, four doubles, three walks, six runs scored, two stolen bases, and a 1.130 slugging percentage across six games.
• The Texas native led the Majors in RBI, slugging, OPS (1.611), extra-base hits (8) and total bases (26); tied for the Major League lead in homers; and ranked fourth in the AL in batting average.
• The fifth overall pick in the 2021 Draft had a monster series at Fenway Park, going 6-for-13 (.462) with two homers, 10 RBI, three doubles, and three runs scored. Cowser became the first player in Orioles’ history to record 10 RBI in a single series at Fenway Park.
• The Sam Houston State University product hit his first and second career home runs on Thursday, adding a double for his first career three-hit game. His second homer of the night highlighted a six-run 10^th inning rally in the O’s win and according to Elias, Cowser became the seventh player since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954 to hit his first two career home runs in the same game.
• The rookie connected with two more home runs over the weekend against Milwaukee and has hit safely in each of his last six games, scoring a run in each of the last five games. Overall, he is batting .441/.474/.971 on the year with four homers, 13 RBI, six doubles, three walks, seven runs scored and two stolen bases.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (.458, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .875 SLG) and outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (.318, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 7 R, 6 SB) of the Braves; rookie first baseman Michael Busch (.364, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .955 SLG) of the Cubs; shortstop Elly De La Cruz (.348, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 8 R, .913 SLG) of the Reds; designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (.375, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 5 2B, 3 BB, 3 R) of the Dodgers; Alonso’s teammate second baseman Jeff McNeil (.368, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 5 R, .520 OBP) of the Mets; catcher William Contreras (.360, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 9 R) and outfielders Blake Perkins (.444, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 7 R), Sal Frelick (.400, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 7 R, .483 OBP) and Christian Yelich (.385, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 2 R, .923 SLG) of the Brewers; starting pitcher Mitch Keller (2-0, 2.77 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 13 SO) of the Pirates; shortstop Trea Turner (.407, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 2 R) of the Phillies; and reliever Kevin Ginkel (0.00 ERA, 3 SV, 4 SO, 1 H) of the Diamondbacks.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included starting pitcher José Berríos (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 13 SO) and designated hitter/third baseman Justin Turner (.563, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 1 R, .632 OBP) of the Blue Jays; first baseman Josh Naylor (.450, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, 1.000 SLG, .577 OBP) and outfielder Steven Kwan (.400, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 R) of the Guardians; second baseman Jose Altuve (.393, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 2B, 5 BB, 6 R, .500 OBP) of the Astros; first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (.421, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 4 R), shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.308, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 BB, 10 R) and catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (.348, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 R) of the Royals; outfielder Taylor Ward (.360, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 3 R) of the Angels; Cowser’s teammate infielder Jordan Westburg (.389, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 3 R, .500 OBP) of the Orioles; outfielder Juan Soto (.364, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 7 BB, 6 R, .517 OBP) of the Yankees; outfielder Robbie Grossman (.333, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 9 BB, 3 R, .556 OBP) of the White Sox; and starting pitcher Bailey Ober (0.82 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Twins.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Full-Extension Diving Catch by Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins

April 8^th at Target Field – Watch It Here

Center fielder Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins earned his fourth career Play of the Week Award, marking the second-most among players since 2019 behind last week’s winner Cedric Mullins (six awards). Buxton accounts for all four of the Twins’ Play of the Week Awards since 2019, after previously winning three times in 2022 on May 31^st, July 7^th and August 15^th. With the game tied, 2-2, and runners on first and second base in the sixth inning, Teoscar Hernández hit a line drive into the outfield gap that would’ve fallen for a go-ahead base hit if not for Buxton’s all-out effort. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Stuart Fairchild’s home run robbing snag; Mookie Betts’ acrobatic catch along the netting; Lucas Erceg’s between the legs redirection; Riley Greene’s leaping catch at the wall; the Twins’ relay to throw out Shohei Ohtani at the plate; and Jorge Mateo’s reaching catch at the wall.