The following was announced by Major League Baseball on Monday, May 20th – New York’s Aaron Judge named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; San Francisco’s Luis Matos named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been selected the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and San Francisco Giants outfielder Luis Matos has been named the National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Judge earned his 10th career Player of the Week Award after last winning twice in 2023 (May 22nd and September 25th). Judge also won three times in 2022 (July 25th, August 1st and October 6th); once in 2021 (May 17th); once in 2020 (August 3rd); and twice in 2017 (June 12th and September 25th). He is the 10th player to win at least 10 weekly awards in the American League. It is the third honor for the Yankees this season after Juan Soto won on April 1st and Anthony Rizzo won on April 29th. Matos claimed his first career honor and is the first member of the Giants to win since Brandon Belt on May 21, 2018. Matos is the first Giants outfielder to win since Hunter Pence took home the honors on May 2, 2016.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (@thejudge44)
- The 32-year-old hit .500 (10-for-20) with three homers, five RBI, five doubles, seven walks, seven runs scored, a 1.200 slugging percentage and a .630 on-base percentage while leading New York to a 6-0 record.
- The California native led the Majors in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.830) and extra-base hits (8); tied for the Major League lead in doubles and total bases (24); tied for the AL lead in batting average and walks; and tied for third in the AL in hits (10).
- The 2022 AL MVP picked up four extra-base hits on Wednesday at Minnesota, marking his second career game with at least four extra-base hits after he also accomplished the feat last year on September 22nd. Judge became the fourth Yankee with at least two games of four-or-more extra-base hits, joining Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig (5 game); Joe DiMaggio (5 G); and Babe Ruth (2 G).
- The 2017 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year had a hit in all six of his games and scored a run in five of the six contests. Overall, he has reached base safely in each of his last 16 games, over which he is batting .415 with 22 hits, 15 walks and .551 on-base percentage. He has reached base safely in 40 of his 48 games this season and reached multiple times in 28 games.
- The five-time All-Star slugged home runs on Tuesday at Minnesota and on Friday and Sunday against the White Sox. His 13 homers lead the Yankees and are the third-most in MLB this season. Judge’s seven homers since May 1st are the second-most in the Majors behind only Kyle Tucker, while his .912 slugging percentage and 1.433 OPS are the best marks in Baseball.
Luis Matos, San Francisco Giants (@l_matos7)
Luis Matos makes an INCREDIBLE catch at the wall. pic.twitter.com/ksJls1lIlF
— MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2024
- The 22-year-old hit .385 (10-for-26) with two homers, 16 RBI, three doubles, three runs scored and a .731 slugging percentage in six games last week.
- The Venezuela native led the Majors in RBI; tied for the NL lead in extra-base hits (5) and total bases (19); tied for third in hits (10); ranked fourth in slugging; tied for eighth in batting average; and ranked ninth in OPS (1.116).
- The center fielder drove home five runs on Friday against Colorado and followed up with a six-RBI performance on Saturday, becoming the first player with back-to-back games of five-or-more RBI since Eloy Jiménez on August 8-9, 2021.
- Overall, he became the youngest player in MLB history with at least five RBI in back-to-back games and the fourth player in Giants history to accomplish the feat joining, Jack Clark (1982); Don Mueller (1951); and Hall of Famer Bill Terry (1932).
- Matos’ 11 RBI during the Giants’ three-game set with Colorado tied a franchise record, joining Clark, who drove home 11 against the Pittsburgh Pirates from May 28-30, 1992; and Jeff Kent, who drove home 11 runs against the Cincinnati Reds from July 24-26, 1998.
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (.276, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 9 R, .828 SLG), who tied a franchise record with home runs in five straight games; outfielder Luke Raley (.458, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R) of the Seattle Mariners; second baseman Andrés Giménez (.500, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, 2 SB, .519 OBP) and third baseman José Ramírez (.375, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 2 R, .667 SLG) of the Cleveland Guardians; Los Angeles Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar (.529, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 5 R, 3 SB, .579 OBP), who recorded his 1,000th career hit on Sunday; third baseman Alex Bregman (.360, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, .880 SLG), outfielder Jake Meyers (.429, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, .810 SLG, .520 OBP) and outfielder Kyle Tucker (.391, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 7 BB, 5 R, .533 OBP) of the Houston Astros; Judge’s teammates, designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (.400, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, .950 SLG) and starting pitcher Carlos Rodón (2-0, 2.25 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 12 SO) of the Yankees; and shortstop Javier Báez (.391, 8 RBI, 4 2B, 4 R) of the Detroit Tigers.
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (2-0, 1.13, 2 GS, 16.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 13 SO), who threw his fourth career shutout on Tuesday at Citi Field, and infielder Bryson Stott (.333, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 9 R, 2 SB, .500 OBP); rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz (.455, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 7 R, .864 SLG) and catcher William Contreras (.308, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 3B, 1 BB, 3 R) of the Milwaukee Brewers; catcher Tyler Stephenson (.524, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 4 R, .810 SLG) of the Reds; rookie starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 4 BB, 15 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; Matos’ teammate third baseman Matt Chapman (.450, 2 RBI, 5 2B, 4 BB, 8 R, 2 SB, .577 OBP) of the Giants; rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 11 SO) and outfielder Bryan Reynolds (.367, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 3 R) of the Pirates; and outfielder Jurickson Profar (.471, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 5 R, .591 OBP) of the San Diego Padres.
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