First baseman Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and designated hitter Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Freeman won his 10th career weekly honor and fifth since joining the Dodgers, including three times in 2022 (June 27th; July 18th; & September 12th) and most recently on August 7, 2023. Additionally, he won five awards as a member of the Atlanta Braves, winning twice in 2012 (April 23rd & May 7th); and three times in 2016 (June 19th; September 4th; & September 25th). It is the second award for Los Angeles this season after his teammate Andy Pages won on April 28th. Overall, Freeman is the 24th player to earn at least 10 Weekly Awards regardless of league, and his 10 awards in the NL are tied with Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn for fifth-most all-time, trailing Barry Bonds (15); Albert Pujols (13); Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (12); and Sammy Sosa (11). Devers earned his third career honor after previously winning on August 19, 2019 and September 18, 2023. It marks the second honor for Boston this season after his teammate Alex Bregman won on April 7th.
Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers (@freddiefreeman)
Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
- The 35-year-old hit .500 (14-for-28) with three homers, 12 RBI, three doubles, a triple, two walks, seven runs scored, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage.
- The Villa Park, California native led the Majors in RBI and hits; tied for the Major League lead in batting average and total bases (28); ranked second in slugging and extra-base hits (7); ranked third in OPS (1.500); tied for fifth in runs; and tied for eighth in on-base percentage.
- The eight-time All-Star slugged a home run and had two hits in each of his first two games to begin the week at Miami, marking the second time this season he homered in back-to-back games (also 3/28-3/29 vs. DET). His two-run blast in the third inning on Monday marked the 350th homer of his career, joining Giancarlo Stanton (429 HR); Mike Trout (387 HR); and Paul Goldschmidt (366 HR) as the only active players with at least 350 career home runs.
- The 2021 and 2024 World Series Champion followed up his multi-hit games with a three-hit, four-RBI game on Wednesday at Miami, finishing the three-game set a combined 7-for-13 with eight RBI. He closed his week with a four-hit, three-RBI game at Arizona on Sunday, marking his 47th career game with at least three hits and three RBI, tied with Goldschmidt for the most such games in the Majors since Freeman’s debut in 2010.
- The 2020 NL MVP tallied a hit in 14 consecutive games from April 25th-May 9th, tied for the sixth-longest streak of his career. He racked up nine multi-hit games during the stretch and now leads the Dodgers with 14 multi-hit games this year.
Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (@rafael.devers)
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
- The 28-year-old hit .476 (10-for-21) with two homers, eight RBI, a double, five walks, three runs scored, a stolen base, an .810 slugging percentage and a .577 on-base percentage.
- The Dominican Republic native ranked second in on-base percentage; tied for third in RBI; fifth in batting average and OPS (1.387); and sixth in slugging.
- The three-time All-Star homered on Thursday against Texas and Sunday at Kansas City, launching a go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth inning against the Royals. He now has 12 career go-ahead homers in the sixth inning-or-later and he is just three homers away from tying Rico Petrocelli (210 HR) for 10th on the Red Sox all-time home run list.
- The 2018 World Series Champion racked up four hits on Saturday against Kansas City, driving home three runs in the contest. It was his 10th career game with at least four hits and three RBI, tied for sixth-most all-time in Red Sox history with Manny Ramírez. Devers’ 10 games with at least four hits and three RBI are second-most in the Majors since his debut in 2017, trailing only Mookie Betts who has registered 13 such games in that span.
- The two-time Silver Slugger has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games, slashing .424/.514/.763 with a 1.277 OPS, marking his longest on-base streak since reaching safely in 19 consecutive games last year from July 23-August 14th. During the current streak, he has reached base safely in eight of his last nine plate appearances. On Sunday he reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances, marking his eighth career game with at least five plate appearances in which he did not record an out. His eight such games are tied for ninth-most in Red Sox history with Ira Flagstead, Nomar Garciaparra and Ramírez.
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included Freeman’s teammate, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (4 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 5 BB, 9 R, 1 SB, .933 SLG); starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 17 SO) and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (.400, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 5 R, 2 SB, .760 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; outfielder Jackson Merrill (.579, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, .842 SLG, .600 OBP) and starting pitcher Stephen Kolek (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 SO) of the San Diego Padres; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.360, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 3 SB, .800 SLG) of the New York Mets; outfielder TJ Friedl (304, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 9 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .500 OBP) of the Cincinnati Reds; starting pitcher Chris Sale (1.46 ERA, 2 GS, 12.1 IP, 13 H, 4 BB, 18 SO), starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver (1-0, 0.66 ERA, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 12 SO) and reliever Scott Blewett (2-0, 2 G, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 SO) of the Braves; and third baseman Ryan McMahon (.500, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 8 R, 1.111 SLG, .625 OBP) of the Colorado Rockies.
Image Credit: MLB
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.357, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 3 BB, 5 R, 5 SB, .607 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals; starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 14 SO) of the Texas Rangers; outfielder Jasson Domínguez (.368, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 8 R, .895 SLG) and Aaron Judge (.333, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, .792 SLG) of the New York Yankees; shortstop Jacob Wilson (.423, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, 1 SB) and catcher Shea Langeliers (.381, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, .714 SLG) of the Athletics; and closer Jhoan Duran (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 SO) of the Minnesota Twins.
ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Long Run and Nice Catch by Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox
May 8th at Fenway Park – Watch It Here
Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela earned his first career Play of the Week Award and Boston’s third honor since the inception of the award in 2019, following wins by Jackie Bradley Jr. on May 14, 2019 and J.D. Martinez on July 6, 2021. With no outs in the top of the ninth inning, Josh Jung of the Rangers hit a ball deep towards the center field triangle as Rafaela ran back and made the catch before colliding hard into the wall, holding on for the first out of the frame. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Louis Varland’s tumbling stop and shovel throw to first; Dylan Crews’ diving catch in the alley; Andy Pages’ leaping catch at the wall and throw to first for the double play; Myles Straw’s full-extension diving catch; Daulton Varsho’s home run robbery; Javier Sanoja’s sliding stop and quick throw; and Vinnie Pasquantino’s sliding catch to start the double play.
Press Release Courtesy of Major League Baseball
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