Bears News: Seiya Suzuki named National League Player of the Week |
All-Star infielder José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians has been chosen the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and rookie outfielder Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Ramírez earned his fifth career AL Player of the Week Award, most recently accomplishing the feat last year for the week ending September 19th. The last position player other than Ramírez to win for Cleveland was Edwin Encarnación in June 2018. Suzuki, who signed with Chicago out of Japan in March, claimed his first NL Player of the Week Award, and is the Cubs’ first recipient since his teammate Frank Schwindel last year for the period ending September 5th. José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians (@ramirez_jose11) Batted .478 (11-for-23) with 11 runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 11 RBI and a .913 slugging percentage over six games played. On Tuesday against the Reds, went 3-for-5 with a triple, home run and six RBI to propel Cleveland to a 10-5 victory. Marked his fourth career six-RBI game. Delivered his 1,000th career hit on Friday night, becoming the 39th player to reach the milestone in a Cleveland uniform and the first since Carlos Santana in 2020. Became the fourth Major Leaguer since 1920 when RBI became an official statistic to tally at least 15 hits and 15-or-more RBI through his first eight games of a season, joining J.D. Martinez (2021), Cody Bellinger (2019) and Mitchell Page (1977). Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs (@seiya.suzuki.1) Posted a slash line of .412/.545/1.059 with five runs, seven hits, two doubles, three triples, five RBI and five walks across six games. Delivered his first career multi-home run effort in his fourth career game on Tuesday against the Pirates. Became the first player in franchise history to tally 10-or-more RBI within his first 22-or-fewer plate appearances since 1920, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Has begun his MLB career by reaching base safely in each of his first nine games played, while also tallying at least one hit in each of his first eight games with a registered at-bat. His eight-game hitting streak is the second longest to begin a career for a Japanese-born player and trails only Akinori Iwamura, who hit safely in nine straight games to begin 2008. Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included José’s teammate Owen Miller (.500, 7 R, 11 H, 6 2B); starting pitcher Alek Manoah (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 13 SO) and closer Jordan Romano (4 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4 SO, 1 BB) of the Toronto Blue Jays; All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers (.423, 6 R, 11 H, 5 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox; starter Nestor Cortes (9.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 17 SO, 1 BB) of the New York Yankees; backstop Sean Murphy (.346, 6 R, 6 XBH, 8 RBI) of the Oakland A’s; shortstop Wander Franco (.323, 7 R, 10 H, 5 XBH) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and starter Bruce Zimmermann (9.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 10 SO, 7 H) of the Baltimore Orioles. Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Josh Bell (.370, 7 R, 10 H, 8 RBI) and All-Star outfielder Juan Soto (.333, 7 R, 8 H, 10 BB) of the Washington Nationals; outfielder Marcell Ozuna (.333, 10 H, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the Atlanta Braves; first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe (.400, 5 R, 10 H, 5 XBH) of the Colorado Rockies; first baseman Pete Alonso (4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI) of the New York Mets; and starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw, who tossed 7.0 perfect innings with 13 strikeouts on Wednesday, and Andrew Heaney (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10.1 IP, 16 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
