(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: Here is Major League Baseball’s recap of the selections for “Players of the Week” in both the National and the American League. We have placed more in-depth coverage on the National League players.
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MAX MUNCY OF THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS NAMED NATIONAL LEAGUE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
ADOLIS GARCÍA OF THE TEXAS RANGERS NAMED AMERICAN LEAGUE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Matt Vierling of the Tigers Earns Play of the Week with Spectacular Catch in Right Field
Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made Monday, 4/24/24, on MLB Network.
Muncy, currently in his eighth Major League season, takes home his first career Player of the Week Award and the first by a Dodgers player since Freddie Freeman last September.
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García claims his second career Player of the Week honor after winning in April 2021 en route to a fourth place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting. García is the first Rangers player to earn the weekly award since Nathaniel Lowe last August.
**Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers (@maxmuncy)
The 32-year-old hit .389 (7-for-18) on the week with five home runs, seven RBI, nine walks, one stolen base and five runs scored to go along with a 1.222 slugging percentage and a .593 on-base percentage.
The Texas native led NL hitters last week in homers, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, tied for first in walks and was tied for second in total bases (22).
The two-time All-Star registered his 12th career multi-homer contest on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, and followed with another homer on Sunday to lead the Dodgers to a series victory on the North Side.
Muncy reached base safely at least twice in five of his seven games played during the week, raising his on-base percentage from .343 to .411 on the season.
The Baylor University product enters play today with a Major League-best 11 home runs on the season, including 10 over his last 13 games. In addition, his 21 RBI rank third among NL hitters.
**Adolis García, Texas Rangers (@joseadolis)
The 30-year-old hit .400 (8-for-20) with four home runs, two doubles, 14 RBI and eight runs scored while posting a 1.100 slugging percentage and a .458 on-base percentage.
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The Cuba native, who enters play today leading the Majors with 28 RBI on the season, led AL hitters last week in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases (22), and was tied for second in runs.
On Saturday against the visiting Oakland Athletics, García delivered three home runs, two doubles and eight RBI as Texas won for the fifth time in six games. He became just the second player in Major League history with five extra-base hits and eight RBI in a single game, joining another Rangers hitter – Josh Hamilton on May 8, 2012 at Baltimore.
The 2021 All-Star became the first player in AL history with three homers and two doubles in a game, and just the fourth player overall in the modern era, joining San Francisco’s Alex Dickerson (September 1, 2020); St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter (July 20, 2018); and Chicago’s Kris Bryant (June 27, 2016).
Finally, the contest marked just the third since 1901 in which a player recorded at least three homers, eight RBI, five runs scored and 16 total bases along with Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges (August 31, 1950) and Washington’s Anthony Rendon (April 30, 2017).
Other Noteworthy National League Performances Last Week Included:
Los Angeles Dodgers
-Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 15 SO), who registered his 200th career victory on Tuesday,
-James Outman (.393, 2 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, .893 SLG);
New York Mets
-Brandon Nimmo, outfielder (.452, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, .438 OBP),
– Joey Lucchesi, pitcher (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 SO)
-Jeff McNeil, second baseman (.462, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, .533 OBP)
Chicago Cubs
-Cody Bellinger, outfielder (.407, 3 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 8 R, 1 SB, .500 OBP),
-Nico Hoerner, second baseman (.394, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 1 SB, .429 OBP)
-Patrick Wisdom, third baseman (.258, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R)
Pittsburgh Pirates
-Jack Suwinski, outfielder (.353, 2 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 2 SB, 1.176 SLG),
-David Bednar, reliever (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 SO)
-Vince Velasquez, (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 17 SO)
-Rich Hill, starting pitcher (2-0, 1.64 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 12 H, 5 BB, 14 SO)
San Diego Padres
-Matt Carpenter, infielder/outfielder (.417, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R, 1.167 SLG)
-Josh Hader, reliever (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 SO)
Others
-Max Fried, starting pitcher (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 9 SO, Atlanta Braves
-Willson Contreras, catcher (.421, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB, .947 SLG), St. Louis Cardinals;
ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Spectacular Leaping Catch by Matt Vierling of the Detroit Tigers
April 18th at Comerica Park – Watch It Here
Outfielder Matt Vierling of the Detroit Tigers earned his first career Play of the Week Award and the sixth overall by a Tigers player since the honor was introduced in 2019. Detroit became just the fifth team to have at least six Play of the Week honors, joining Milwaukee (7), Atlanta (6), the New York Mets (6) and Toronto (6). Vierling became the first Tigers player to win the award since Riley Greene last September. In the fifth inning of a scoreless game against the visiting Guardians last Tuesday, Vierling leapt to make an outstanding catch and take away a potential home run from Josh Naylor. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Aaron Judge’s home run-robbing catch to take away a round-tripper from Shohei Ohtani; Tony Kemp’s full extension diving grab; Sam Hilliard’s home-run robbing grab; Joey Wiemer’s terrific leaping catch; Manny Machado’s impressive barehanded play; and an outstanding double play by Ke’Bryan Hayes and the Pirates.