J.D. Martinez of the Mets named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Carlos Correa of the Twins named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Minnesota Twins rookie outfielder Austin Martin claims Play of the Week with home run robbery

June 17th, 2024

New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Martinez earned his 12th career Player of the Week Award and his first since joining the Mets after previously winning once as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers (9/25/2023); four times with the Boston Red Sox (10/6/2022, 4/12/2021, 8/13/2018 and 5/21/2018); twice with the Arizona Diamondbacks (9/18/2017 and 9/11/2017); and four times with the Detroit Tigers (7/17/2017, 5/21/2017, 7/5/2015 and 6/22/2014). The award marks the second for the Mets this season after Pete Alonso won on April 15th. Martinez’s 12 awards are the most among active players, breaking a tie with Aaron Judge, who earned his 11th career award last week, and Martinez is now one of 11 players in history with at least 12 career Player of the Week Awards. Correa claimed his fourth career honor after previously winning three times as a member of the Houston Astros (10/2/2017, 8/14/2016 and 6/27/2016). It is the first honor for the Twins since Alex Kirilloff won last year on July 24th.

J.D. Martinez, New York Mets (@jdmartinez28)

  • The 36-year-old hit .450 (9-for-20) with three homers, nine RBI, three doubles, six walks, five runs scored, a 1.050 slugging percentage and .593 on-base percentage in six games last week.
  • The Florida native led the Majors in slugging and OPS (1.643); led NL hitters in on-base percentage; tied for the NL lead in walks, extra-base hits (6) and total bases (21); ranked second in batting average; tied for second in RBI; and tied for fourth in homers.
  • The six-time All-Star clubbed his first career walk-off home run on Thursday against the Marlins, with the homer marking the 321st of his career. Overall, it was his fourth career walk-off hit after he recorded a walk-off double on April 6, 2021; a walk-off single on September 24, 2017; and a walk-off sacrifice fly on June 15, 2014.
  • The 2018 World Series Champion with the Red Sox hit two home runs on Saturday against the Padres, marking his 23rd career multi-homer game. It was his 33rd career game in which he tallied three hits and three RBI, marking the seventh-most such games across Baseball since he made his debut in 2011. Martinez has driven home a run in seven of his last eight games, with at least two RBI in four of the games.
  • The three-time Silver Slugger has reached base safely in each of his last 20 games dating back to May 24th, marking the sixth-longest on-base streak in his career and his longest since he reached in a career-high 34 straight games from September 29, 2021 through May 17, 2022. Over the 20-game stretch, he is batting .291 (23-for-79) with six homers, 18 RBI, five doubles, a triple, 11 walks, 13 runs, a .608 slugging percentage and a .999 OPS. Overall, he has a hit in 33 of his 44 games this season and has reached base safely in 39 of his 44 games.

Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins (@teamcjcorrea)

  • The 31-year-old hit .548 (17-for-31) with three homers, nine RBI, a double, two walks, nine runs scored, an .871 slugging percentage and a .576 on-base percentage.
  • The Puerto Rico native led the Majors in hits (17), total bases (27) and runs; led AL hitters in OPS (1.447); ranked second the AL in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging; tied for second in RBI; and tied for third in homers.
  • The 2015 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year recorded his first career five-hit day on Wednesday against the Rockies as the Twins had a season-high 24 hits. He tallied three runs scored and one RBI en route to becoming the first Twins player with a five-hit game since Byron Buxton on April 28, 2021, and the first to accomplish the feat at Target Field since Logan Forsythe on August 16, 2018.
  • The two-time All-Star capped off his week with a multi-homer game on Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader against the Athletics. It was his 12th career two-homer game and his first since June 22, 2022. Overall, he finished the doubleheader going 5-for-10 with two homers, four RBI and two runs scored as the Twins completed a sweep of Oakland and won their fifth straight game.
  • The 2017 World Series Champion with the Astros has hit safely in each of his last eight games, including six multi-hit games. From the eighth inning on Tuesday against Colorado through the third inning on Thursday against Oakland, Correa had a hit in eight of his nine at-bats including six straight singles to begin the stretch.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Matt Olson (.478, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, .913 SLG) and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (.417, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .708 SLG) of the Atlanta Braves; infielder Jeimer Candelario (.450, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 3 2B, 3 R, 1.050 SLG) of the Cincinnati Reds; starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (1-0, 0.68 ERA, 2 GS, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 11 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill (.381, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, 1.000 SLG) and closer Robert Suarez (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3.1 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) of the San Diego Padres; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (.391, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 5 R) and rookie starting pitcher DJ Herz (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 13 SO), who became the second Major League pitcher with at least 13 strikeouts and no walks in one of his first three career outings joining former Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg; starting pitcher Colin Rea (1-0, 1.08 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 10 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (.375, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 4 BB, 5 R, .833 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; and designated hitter Joc Pederson (.333, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 7 R) of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included Correa’s infield teammate Royce Lewis (.417, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 9 R, .958 SLG) of the Twins; starting pitcher Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 16 SO) of the Astros; outfielder Steven Kwan (.591, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, .609 OBP) of the Cleveland Guardians; outfielder Riley Greene (.333, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 1 3B, 1 BB, 5 R, .741 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers; first baseman Tyler Soderstrom (.370, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 6 R, .815 SLG) of the Oakland Athletics; shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.393, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, 2 SB) of the Kansas City Royals; starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (2-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 13 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (1-0, 1.84 ERA, 2 GS, 14.2 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 17 SO) and relief pitcher Trent Thornton (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; and first baseman Andrew Vaughn (.367, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, .700 OBP) of the Chicago White Sox.

ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Home Run Robbery by of the Minnesota Twins
June 16th at Target Field – Watch It Here

Rookie center fielder Austin Martin of the Minnesota Twins earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the fifth honor for the Twins after Byron Buxton previously won on April 15th of this year and three times during the 2022 season (August 15th, July 7th and May 31st). In the top of the second inning on Sunday night, Shea Langeliers hit a ball to deep center field that would have gone for a game-tying home run if not for Martin’s terrific leaping grab to rob the home run. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Bobby Witt Jr.’s over the shoulder catch and relay for the double play; the Rangers’ game-winning relay; Francisco Lindor’s backhand grab and flip to second base; Ryan Pepiot’s barehand grab and spinning throw to first; Blake Perkins’ throw and William Contreras’ tag to win the game; and Nolan Arenado’s run-saving double play.