San Diego’s Dylan Cease named National League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet; Boston’s Tyler O’Neill named American League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet

On the heels of the second no-hitter in franchise history, San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease has been selected the National League Player of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet, and Boston Red Sox outfielder **Tyler O’Neill has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Cease earned his first career Player of the Week award and is the second pitcher to win the award this season after Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco won on April 6^th, following his no-hitter. Cease is the first Padre to win the award since his teammate Luis Arraez won on May 28^th and is the first San Diego pitcher to win the award since rotation-mate Yu Darvish on September 19, 2022. O’Neill claimed his second career honor after previously winning on September 20, 2021 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the first Red Sox player to win since his teammate Rafael Devers won last year on September 18^th. Overall, Boston’s 144 all-time weekly awards are the most of any club, breaking a tie with the New York Yankees, who have 143.

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres (@dylancease7)

• The 28-year-old threw the second no-hitter in Padres’ history on Thursday at Washington, permitting three walks with nine strikeouts. After waiting out an hour and sixteen-minute rain delay in the top of the first inning, Cease permitted a leadoff walk to Lane Thomas in the bottom of the first inning before setting down eight straight batters. The right-hander issued another walk to Thomas in the fourth inning and a walk to CJ Abrams in the seventh inning, marking Washington’s only three baserunners in the game. He finished the magnificent start by retiring the contest’s final nine batters in order.
• The Georgia native led the Majors in opponents’ average (.000) and WHIP (0.33); and tied for the Major League lead in ERA (0.00). He was one of two pitchers in Baseball to throw a shutout last week, joined by rookie starter Tyler Phillips of the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Cease joins his current teammate Joe Musgrove as the only pitchers in Padres’ history to throw a no-hitter, after Musgrove tossed the first no-hitter in San Diego history on April 9, 2021 at Texas. Previously, Cease’s longest no-hit bid was 8.2 innings on September 3, 2022, when now-teammate Luis Arraez broke up the no-hitter with a two-out single in the ninth inning.
• The 2022 AL Cy Young runner-up with the Chicago White Sox improved to 10-8 on the year and has won each of his last three starts since July 13^th, going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 22.0 innings of work, allowing just two hits with seven walks, 30 strikeouts, a 0.41 WHIP and a .031 opponents’ average. During the stretch, he leads the Majors in strikeouts, innings pitched, opponents’ average and WHIP; and is tied for the Major League lead in wins and ERA.
• The sixth round selection in the 2014 MLB Draft has thrown at least 6.0 innings and allowed one-or-fewer hits in six of his 22 starts this season, setting a new Major League record for a single season. Cease is one of 10 pitchers who were tied for the record of four starts of at least 6.0 innings and one-or-fewer hits, with 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell being the last to accomplish the feat. Cease accomplished the feat in 2022.

Tyler O'Neill, Boston Red Sox (@toneill9)

• The 29-year-old hit .429 (9-for-21) with four homers, eight RBI, three doubles, a walk, five runs scored, a 1.143 slugging percentage and a .435 on-base percentage in five games last week.
• The Canada native tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7); led the AL in slugging and total bases (24); tied for the AL lead in homers and RBI; and ranked third in OPS (1.578).
• The third round selection in the 2013 MLB Draft hit multiple homers on Tuesday at Colorado and Saturday against the Yankees, marking the ninth and 10^th multi-homer games of his career. Overall, his five multi-homer games are the most in the Majors this season and are the most by a Red Sox hitter since J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts each recorded five multi-homer games in 2019.
• Per Elias, along with his two-homer game on July 20^th at Los Angeles (NL), he became the first player in Red Sox history to record three multi-home run games in a span of six-or-fewer games. He became the first Red Sox hitter since Trevor Story in 2022 to hit at least four home runs across a three-game stretch.
• The two-time Rawlings Gold Glover had multiple hits in four of his five games last week, including three-hit performances on Monday at Colorado and Saturday against New York (AL). On Saturday, he drove home four runs, marking his sixth career game with at least four RBI. He drove home a career-high five RBI on April 7, 2022 against Pittsburgh.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Josh Bell (.429, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 6 R, 1.000 SLG, .515 OBP) of the Miami Marlins; infielder Tyler Fitzgerald (.375, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 9 R, .938 SLG) and starting pitcher Blake Snell (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 19 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte (.421, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 7 R, 1.105 SLG) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.276, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 6 R, 2 SB, .828 SLG) of the New York Mets; second baseman Xander Bogaerts (.583, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 7 R, .917 SLG, .615 OBP) of the San Diego Padres; Miami Marlins rookie shortstop Xavier Edwards (.478, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 6 BB, 6 R, 5 SB, .548 OBP), who hit for the second cycle in franchise history on Sunday; Cincinnati Reds All-Star teammates starting pitcher Hunter Greene (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 12 SO) and shortstop Elly De La Cruz (.400, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 3B, 2 BB, 5 R, 7 SB, .455 OBP); shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (.406, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 6 R) of the Colorado Rockies; starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 11 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; and rookie starting pitcher Tyler Phillips (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies, who blanked the AL-best Cleveland Guardians.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.474, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 8 R, 1.000 SLG, .560 OBP) and designated hitter Justin Turner (.565, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .783 SLG, .600 OBP) of the Toronto Blue Jays; starting pitcher Bailey Ober (2-0, 1.20 ERA, 2 GS, 15.0 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 15 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; Oakland Athletics outfielders Lawrence Butler (.367, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 8 R, 2 SB, .733 SLG) and Brent Rooker (.321, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, 2 SB, .679 SLG); starting pitcher Carlos Ródon (2-0, 2.03 ERA, 13.1 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 17 SO), All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.400, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 9 BB, 6 R, .750 SLG, .600 OBP), All-Star outfielder Juan Soto (.292, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, .875 SLG) and catcher Austin Wells (.476, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 5 R, .810 SLG) of the Yankees; second baseman Brandon Lowe (.409, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 5 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .864 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays; All-Star starting pitcher Tyler Anderson (0-1, 2.84 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 18 SO) and first baseman Nolan Schanuel (.350, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 8 BB, 7 R, .552 OBP) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4/4 SV, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians; All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.417, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 6 R, .750 SLG, .462 OBP) of the Kansas City Royals; and All-Star starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 15 H, 3 BB, 14 SO) of the Detroit Tigers.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Back-Handed Grab and Acrobatic Leaping Throw by Jonathan Ornelas of the Texas Rangers

July 23^rd at Globe Life Field – Watch It Here

Rookie infielder Jonathan Ornelas of the Texas Rangers earned his first career Play of the Week Award and the second straight award for Texas following Josh Smith’s win last week. The Rangers are the first team to win Play of the Week in back-to-back weeks since the Baltimore Orioles won last year on August 7^th and 14^th. Other Rangers to win the award include Eli White (6/6/2022); Adolis García (4/25/2022); DJ Peters (8/23/2021); and Delino DeShields (8/29/2019). With one out and Texas leading 2-1 in the eighth inning, Tommy Pham hit a ball into the hole as Ornelas ranged to his right at shortstop, made a back-handed play and leaped to throw the ball across his body to first base for the close out. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Kevin Kiermaier’s full-extension diving catch; Brice Turang’s inning-ending diving catch; Cedric Mullins’ long run and leaping catch; Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s long run and diving catch; Nico Hoerner’s nice diving catch; Jonathan Cannon’s quick reaction for the double play; Xander Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill’s teamwork to preserve the no-hitter; Connor Norby’s sliding stop and throw from the ground; and Elly De La Cruz’s long run and nice sliding catch.