Shohei Ohtani and Josh Naylor Named Players of the Week Presented by Chevrolet

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Ohtani earned his ninth career Player of the Week Award and his second of the season after winning his first NL award on May 6^th. Previously, he won seven times as a member of the Los Angeles Angels with three honors in his 2023 AL MVP season (7/30, 7/3 and 6/20); two honors in his 2021 AL MVP season (7/6 and 6/21); and two honors during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2018 (9/10 and 4/9). The award marks the third for the Dodgers this season after Ohtani’s previous win and Teoscar Hernández’s win on June 10^th. Naylor claimed his first career honor and is the first Guardians player to win since his teammate Steven Kwan won on September 26, 2022.

*Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (*@shoheiohtani)

• The 29-year-old hit .458 (11-for-24) with four homers, 11 RBI, three doubles, six walks, eight runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.083 slugging percentage and a .567 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Japan native led the Majors in RBI, slugging, OPS (1.650), extra-base hits (7) and total bases (26); tied for the Major League lead in homers; ranked second in OBP; tied for second in walks; tied for fourth in runs scored; and tied for fifth in batting average.
• The two-time unanimous AL MVP finished his week with home runs in three straight games and in four of his last five games during the stretch. It is the eighth time in his career that he has homered in three straight games and his second such streak of this season. He hit a 476-foot home run on Tuesday night at Colorado, marking the longest home run the Majors this season and the longest homer of his career.
• The 2018 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year has hit safely in each of his last seven games and in 20 of his 24 games so far this month, reaching base safely in 22 of the contests. Along with his seven-game hitting streak, Ohtani has also recorded an RBI and a run scored in each of those seven games, marking the longest streak in his career with at least one hit, one RBI and one run scored.
• The three-time All-Star recorded three straight multi-hit games at Colorado to begin his week, picking up three hits on Monday and two hits each on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overall, Ohtani’s 30 multi-hit games are third-most in the Majors this season, while his eight games with at least three hits are tied for fourth.

Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians (@jaynaylor10)

• The 27-year-old hit .400 (10-for-25) with three homers, eight RBI, three doubles, a walk, seven runs scored, an .880 slugging percentage and a .423 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Canada native led the AL in total bases (22); tied for the AL lead in extra-base hits (6); ranked second in slugging and OPS (1.303); tied for second in runs scored and RBI; and ranked fourth in batting average.
• The 12^th overall pick of the 2015 Draft tallied his fourth career multi-homer game on Wednesday against Seattle, hitting a two-run shot in the fifth inning and a solo homer in the seventh inning. He drove home four runs in the game, marking his sixth career game with at least four RBI.
• The six-year veteran had an extra-base hit in three straight games from Wednesday through Friday, hitting a double on both Thursday and Friday after his two-homer game on Wednesday. The stretch marked the third time this season that Naylor recorded an extra-base hit in at least three straight games, and marked the 16^th time in his career that he had an extra-base hit in at least three straight games.
• Naylor has appeared in all but three of the Guardians’ 75 games this season, tied with José Ramírez for the most games played on the club. His 20 homers are the most of any Cleveland hitter, while his 58 RBI on the year rank second to only Ramírez.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Bryce Harper (.462, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 7 R, .923 SLG), outfielder Nick Castellanos (.478, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, .913 SLG) and starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (2-0, 0.64 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 9 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan (.423, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 4 R, .846 SLG) and outfielder Alec Burleson (.409, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 10 R, 3 SB, .818 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; catcher Francisco Alvarez (.500, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 4 BB, 3 R, .909 SLG, .577 OBP) and outfielder Brandon Nimmo (.375, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 9 R, .917 SLG) of the New York Mets; rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 12 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; third baseman Manny Machado (.393, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R) and rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill (.360, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, .760 SLG) of the San Diego Padres; second baseman Brice Turang (.344, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 5 R) and rookie starting pitcher Tobias Myers (2-0, 0.79 ERA, 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 9 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; and third baseman Ryan McMahon (.440, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, .760 SLG) of the Colorado Rockies.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford (.364, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 SB, .773 SLG) and infielder Josh Smith (.412, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1.00 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; outfielder Josh Lowe (.429, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .952 SLG) and first baseman Yandy Díaz (.393, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R) of the Tampa Bay Rays; outfielder Jarren Duran (.393, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 5 R) and closer Kenley Jansen (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; starting pitcher Reese Olson (1-0, 1.46 ERA, 2 GS, 12.1 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 11 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; shortstop Gunnar Henderson (.333, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 5 BB, 9 R) and catcher Adley Rutschman (.458, 2 2B, 5 BB, 5 R, .552 OBP) of the Baltimore Orioles; third baseman Alex Bregman (.462, 1 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, .500 OBP) of the Houston Astros; Naylor’s teammates starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 12 SO) and closer Emmanuel Clase (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) of the Guardians; and starting pitcher Bailey Ober (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 10 SO) of the Minnesota Twins.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Game-Ending Home Run Robbery by Sal Frelick of the Milwaukee Brewers

June 18^th at Angel Stadium of Anaheim – Watch It Here

Center fielder Sal Frelick of the Milwaukee Brewers earned his third career Play of the Week Award and his second of the season after previously winning on May 20^th. His first career honor came last year on September 11^th, and he has now claimed each of the Brewers’ last three awards. Frelick is tied with former Brewer Lorenzo Cain for the most awards in the National League since 2019. Trailing 6-3 with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Taylor Ward hit a fly ball to the right-center field wall, forcing Frelick to leap and make a game-saving catch as he took away what would have been a game-tying home run. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Jose Siri’s catch and throw to third for the double play; Jarren Duran’s home run robbery; Miguel Andujar’s home run robbery and throw to third base for the double play; Brenton Doyle’s diving grab in the alley; Dylan Carlson’s catch and throw to preserve the lead; Zach McKinstry’s and Andy Ibañez’s all-out effort for the out; and Brayan Rocchio's incredible diving stop and throw.