Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Ohtani claimed his 10th career award, becoming one of 23 players with at least 10 career awards after he previously won twice this season with the Dodgers (6/24 and 5/6) and won seven times as a member of the Los Angeles Angels (7/30/2023; 7/3/2023; 6/20/2023; 7/6/2021; 6/21/2021; 9/10/2018; and 4/9/2018). He is the eighth player since 1973 to claim at least three awards in both leagues, joining Carlos Beltrán (6 NL/4 AL); Adrián González (5 NL/3 AL); Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero (7 NL/3 AL); Manny Machado (4 AL/4 NL); Mark McGwire (5 AL/5 NL); Al Oliver (5 NL/3 AL); and Gary Sheffield (9 NL/3 AL). Overall, it is the fifth award for the Dodgers this season and first since Gavin Lux won on July 22nd. Rodríguez earned his fourth career honor after previously winning on August 21st and May 30th of last season, and on July 5, 2022. It is the first honor for a Mariners player since Rodríguez’s aforementioned win last August 21st.
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (@shoheiohtani)
The only member of the 50-50 club: Shohei Ohtani – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
- The 30-year-old hit .500 (16-for-32) with six homers, 17 RBI, two doubles, two walks, 11 runs scored, seven stolen bases, a 1.125 slugging percentage and a .543 on-base percentage in seven games last week.
- The Japan native led the Majors in homers, RBI, slugging, OPS (1.668), hits (16), extra-base hits (8), total bases (36), runs and stolen bases; ranked second in batting average; and sixth in on-base percentage.
- The four-time All-Star had one of the most impressive games in Baseball history as he chartered the 50/50 club with a 6-for-6 day on Thursday at Miami, hitting three home runs with 10 RBI, two stolen bases and 17 total bases. His stellar day at the plate was the first three-homer game in MLB history where the player also had multiple stolen bases, and he became the first player with at least five extra-base hits and multiple stolen bases in a game since at least 1901. Ohtani became the Dodgers’ all-time single-season home run leader, tying Shawn Green (2001) with his 49th blast of the year in the sixth inning before setting the record with his historic 50th home run in the seventh inning.
Shohei Ohtani hits an opposite field home run – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
- The 2021 and 2023 AL MVP with the Angels recorded three games with at least one homer and at least one stolen base, and now has 15 such games this season, surpassing Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s previous record of 13 games with a home run and a stolen base in 1986. Additionally, Ohtani has tallied multiple stolen bases in 11 games this season, marking the second-most in the Majors this year behind only Elly De La Cruz (13 G).
- The 2018 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year added four hits and two stolen bases on Sunday against Colorado, including a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. The contest marked his fifth consecutive game with a hit and a stolen base and his current five-game streak with a stolen base is tied with Xavier Edwards for the second-longest in the Majors this season behind a six-game streak from Josh Lowe (8/10-8/17). He now has an unprecedented 53 homers and 55 stolen bases on the year.
Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners (@jrodshow44)
2022 AL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year, and 2023 AL LatinoMVP Julio Rodríguez – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
- The 23-year-old hit .433 (13-for-30) with three homers, nine RBI, a double, a walk, five runs scored, a stolen base, a .767 slugging percentage and a .452 on-base percentage in six games last week.
- The Dominican Republic native led the AL in total bases (23); tied for the AL lead in RBI and hits (13); tied for second in homers and extra-base hits (4); ranked third in batting average; and seventh in OPS (1.219) and on-base percentage.
- The two-time All-Star tallied four hits on Tuesday against New York and again on Saturday at Texas, marking his 12th and 13th career games with at least four hits. His 13 such games prior to his 24th birthday are third-most in franchise history behind Alex Rodriguez (17) and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (14). They are the most in the Majors since Mike Trout also recorded 13 four-hit games from 2012-2016 prior to his 24th birthday. On Saturday, he hit a leadoff home run, marking his eighth career leadoff homer, which are third-most in Seattle’s history, trailing Ichiro Suzuki (37) and current teammate J.P. Crawford (12).
Julio Rodríguez signing for fans – Image Credit: Simon Lindenblatt/Latino Sports
- The 2022 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year slugged two home runs on Friday at Texas, marking his fourth career multi-homer game and first since September 5th of last season. Along with his blast on Saturday, it was the fourth time this year that he has homered in consecutive games, with three of those instances coming since the end of August. Entering today, he has 19 home runs and 23 stolen bases this season and with his next longball, will join Bobby Witt Jr. as the only players in Major League history with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in each of their first three seasons.
- The two-time Silver Slugger Award-winner became the second player in franchise history with back-to-back games of at least three hits and at least four RBI, joining Raúl Ibañez, who accomplished the feat on August 4-5, 2008. Rodríguez is one of three players to accomplish the feat this season, joining Matt Vierling (5/26-29) and Luis Matos (5/17-18).
Smiles all around as Julio Rodríguez, and Luis Castillo, receive their 2023 LatinoMVP awards. Julio received his LatinoMVP award last Sunday and proceeded to win Player of the Week for the AL – Image Credit: Seattle Mariners/MLB
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker (.524, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .857 SLG, .630 OBP) and catcher Yainer Diaz (.333, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 6 R) of the Houston Astros; All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.481, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, .741 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Toronto Blue Jays; first baseman Triston Casas (.250, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 5 R, .900 SLG) of the Boston Red Sox; All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.421, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 5 BB, 3 R, 2 SB, .684 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals; All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.368, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 7 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .789 SLG), starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1 GS, 9.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 SO) and relief pitcher Luke Weaver (1-0, 3 G, 2 SV, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 10 SO) of the New York Yankees; and first baseman Jonathan Aranda (.333, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 5 R, .762 SLG) and starting pitcher Shane Baz (1-0, 2.08 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 12 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays.
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