San Diego's Jackson Merrill named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Houston teammates Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman named American League Co-Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet

San Diego Padres rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Houston Astros outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez and third baseman Alex Bregman have been selected the American League Co-Players of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet**. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Merrill earned his first career award and is the third Padres player to win this season, joining teammates Luis Arraez (May 28^th) and Dylan Cease (July 29^th). Merrill is the first Padres rookie to win the award since Manuel Margot won on July 31, 2017. Alvarez and Bregman each earned their third career honors after Alvarez previously won on June 6^th and September 19^th in 2022, and Bregman won on July 2, 2018 and April 11, 2022. The pair became the second and third members of the Astros to win the award this season, joining Ronel Blanco, who won on April 8^th following his no-hitter. They are the first pair of teammates to be named Co-Players of the Week since Paul Goldschmidt and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals on August 22, 2022 and the first pair of American League teammates to accomplish the feat since Max Kepler and Hall of Famer Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins on August 8, 2016.

Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres (@_jacksonmerrill_)

• The 21-year-old hit .417 (10-for-24) with four homers, eight RBI, a double, a triple, three walks, nine runs scored, two stolen bases, a 1.042 slugging percentage and a .464 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Maryland native tied for the Major League lead in runs; tied for second in total bases (25) and extra-base hits (6); ranked third in slugging and OPS (1.506); tied for third in homers; tied for third among NL hitters in batting average; and ranked fourth in the NL in on-base percentage.
• The 2024 All-Star hit a pair of game-tying home runs on Friday and Saturday at Miami, hitting a solo shot in the ninth inning on Friday and a two-run blast in the eighth inning on Saturday. He now has five game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the eighth inning-or-later this season, tying him with Hall of Famer Mel Ott (1929) for the second-most in a season by a player 21-or-younger since 1900, trailing only Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (six in 1956).
• The 27^th overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft collected four hits, including two homers, on Wednesday at Pittsburgh, marking his second career multi-homer game (also: June 12^th vs. Oakland). His second longball of the day was a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning that forced the game into extra innings. His four hits matched a career high after he also tallied four knocks on April 7^th at San Francisco and July 24^th at Washington.

Merrill snapped a six-game hitting streak on Sunday at Miami, tied for the longest hitting streak of his career after he also hit in six consecutive games from June 5^th-10^th and June 19^th-24^th. On his most recent streak, he slashed .478/.536/1.174 with a 1.710 OPS dating back to August 4^th.

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros (@yordan4342)

• The 27-year-old hit .429 (9-for-21) with five homers, eight RBI, a double, seven walks, seven runs scored, a 1.190 slugging percentage and a .586 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Cuba native led the Majors in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.776) and walks; tied for second in total bases (25) and extra-base hits (6); and tied for fifth in batting average.
• The three-time All-Star hit homers in four of his six contests, including two home runs on Sunday at Fenway Park. He became the second Astros player ever with a multi-homer game at Fenway Park, joining his current teammate Kyle Tucker, who homered twice at Boston on May 17, 2022.
• The 2019 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year had three straight multi-hit games from Friday through Sunday at Boston, and he now has at least two hits in six of his nine games this month. Overall, he has hit safely in eight of his nine games in August, with his .969 slugging percentage and 1.530 OPS pacing the Majors since August 1^st.
• The 2022 World Series Champion and 2021 ALCS MVP has drawn at least one walk in each of his last four games and in six of his last seven contests. He reached base safely in 10 of his 14 plate appearances in the Astros’ three-game series sweep over the Red Sox, drawing an intentional walk on Friday and Sunday. Alvarez was also intentionally walked in two straight plate appearances on Monday against the Rangers as they pitched around the slugger in the eighth and 10^th innings. His 13 intentional walks this season are tied with Aaron Judge for the most in the Majors and are the most by an Astros hitter since Lance Berkman drew 14 intentional walks in 2009.

Alex Bregman, Houston Astros (@abreg_1)

• The 30-year-old hit .444 (12-for-27) with three homers, six RBI, three doubles, three walks, nine runs scored, an .889 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The New Mexico native tied for the Major League lead in runs; tied for second in extra-base hits (6) and hits (12); and ranked second among AL hitters in batting average, slugging, OPS (1.389) and total bases (24).
• The two-time All-Star had multiple hits in five of his six games last week, including a three-hit game on Friday at Boston. His current five-game streak is the longest such streak of his career, surpassing his previous career high of four straight multi-hit games, which he did most recently from April 1-5, 2021.
• The two-time World Series Champion hit back-to-back homers with Alvarez on Sunday in the fifth inning, blasting a three-run shot before Alvarez followed with a solo homer. It was the fourth time that the Astros hit back-to-back home runs this year after also going back-to-back on April 27^th at Colorado; May 21^st against Los Angeles (AL); and June 5^th against St. Louis.
• The 2018 Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP has scored a run in six straight games and scored multiple runs in each of his last three games. He is the first Astros player with multiple hits and multiple runs scored in at least three straight games since he also accomplished the feat from August 4-7, 2019. His six consecutive games with a run scored are tied for the second-longest streak in his career, trailing a trio of seven-game stretches, with the most recent streak occurring from July 13-19, 2019.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielder Jorge Soler (.450, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, 1.100 SLG, .522 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; infielder Jake Burger (.379, 5 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 8 R, .931 SLG) of the Miami Marlins; outfielder Teoscar Hernández (.400, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 2B, 2 BB, 8 R, .920 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; outfielder Jake McCarthy (.417, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 1 3B, 1 BB, 6 R, .875 SLG) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; starting pitcher Nick Martinez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 12 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; outfielder Alex Call (.406, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1 SB) of the Washington Nationals; designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (.346, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 7 R, .885 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; designated hitter Andrew McCutchen (.385, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 3 R, 1.077 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; second baseman Brendan Rodgers (.435, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .519 OBP) of the Colorado Rockies; and starting pitcher Logan Webb (1-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 12 SO) of the San Francisco Giants.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included shortstop Zach Neto (.370, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .815 SLG) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.450, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .577 OBP) of the New York Yankees; All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.381, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 6 R, .857 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals; starting pitcher JP Sears (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 9 SO) of the Oakland Athletics; outfielder Andrew Benintendi (.300, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, .950 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; designated hitter Masataka Yoshida (.417, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 4 R) of the Boston Red Sox; catcher Cal Raleigh (.273, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 3 R, .682 SLG) and starting pitcher Luis Castillo (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 2 BB, 18 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; and starting pitcher Albert Suarez (0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 11 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Spectacular Double Play By Jorge Polanco and Leo Rivas of the Seattle Mariners

August 10^th at T-Mobile Park – Watch It Here

Second baseman Jorge Polanco and rookie shortstop Leo Rivas of the Seattle Mariners each earned their first career Play of the Week Award, teaming up for the Mariners’ fourth Play of the Week Award and their first since Dylan Moore won for his incredible diving catch on October 2^nd last year. With one out in the top of the first inning on Saturday, J.D. Martinez grounded a ball up the middle to Polanco, who made a fantastic back-handed stop and glove flip to Rivas, who then made a barehanded catch, stepped on the bag and threw in one motion to complete the double play. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Parker Meadows' home run robbery; Ceddanne Rafaela’s backhanded grab at the wall; Zach Neto’s long run and sliding catch; Randy Arozarena’s diving catch; River Ryan’s bare-handed grab and off-balanced throw to first; Ryan McMahon’s great diving stop; Pete Lambert’s deflection and Ezequiel Tovar’s quick reaction for the double play; and Mickey Moniak’s leaping grab at the wall.