Cincinnati Reds rookie Matt McLain named National League Player of the Week
Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez has been selected the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made Tuesday on MLB Network.
Rodríguez, in his second Major League season, earned his second career weekly award after being honored last July. Prior to his pair of awards, the last Seattle player to claim AL Player of the Week was his teammate Ty France (April 25, 2022). McLain, in just his second week in the big leagues, claimed his first career weekly award and the second for a Reds player this season, joining his teammate Nick Senzel earlier this month (May 1st).
The 23-year-old McLain hit .484 (15-for-31) with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, nine runs scored, one stolen base, a .774 slugging percentage and a .543 on-base percentage in seven games played last week.
The California native led the NL in hits, tied for first in runs scored, ranked second in hitting, third in on-base percentage, tied for third in total bases (24), tied for sixth in doubles, tied for seventh in RBI, and was ninth in slugging.
The 17th overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft hit safely in all seven games played last week, helping the Reds to a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field over the weekend and a 5-2 mark overall during the week.
McLain went 9-for-15 across the three-game set at Wrigley, including a career-best four-hit performance on Sunday to close out his award-winning week, and homered in consecutive contests for his first Major League home runs on Tuesday and Wednesday against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
Since his Major League debut on May 15, McLain leads the Reds in on-base percentage and OPS and is tied for the team lead in home runs, RBI and runs scored. In addition, he ranks among the Major League leaders in runs (tied for third), hits (tied for fifth), on-base percentage (sixth), hitting (sixth) and doubles (tied for seventh) since his promotion.
His 19 hits are the third-most ever by a Reds player through his first 12 games, trailing only Sam Crawford (22 hits, 1901) and Jay Bruce (21 hits, 2008).
The 22-year-old Rodríguez hit .467 (14-for-30) with four doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, six runs scored, one stolen base, an .800 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage across seven games played.
The 2022 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winner paced the AL in total bases (24), tied for first in hits and doubles, ranked second in hitting, tied for second in RBI, was sixth in slugging and seventh in on-base percentage.
The Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic native led the Mariners to six wins in seven contests last week, hitting safely in all seven games and recording multiple hits in six outings.
Rodríguez, a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2022, opened his award-winning week with a three-hit contest, including a pair of doubles, and three runs scored in an 11-2 victory over the visiting A’s last Monday.
The 2022 All-Star recorded five consecutive two-hit games from Wednesday through Sunday, and raised his batting average 26 points overall on the season during his seven games played last week. He entered play Tuesday with an eight-game hitting streak and a seven-game streak with multiple hits.
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included Rodríguez’s teammate Luis Castillo (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 18 SO); shortstop Bo Bichette (.452, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB, .742 SLG) and starting pitcher José Berríos (2-0, 0.71 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 10 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays; shortstop Wander Franco (.444, 2 3B, 6 RBI, 4 SB, 8 R, .500 OBP), third baseman Isaac Paredes (.350, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R, .700 SLG) and outfielder Jose Siri (.333, 1 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB, 5 R, .857 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays; outfielder Corey Julks (.400, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB, 2 R, .650 SLG), designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.278, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, .944 SLG) and starting pitcher Cristian Javier (2-0, 1.64 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 8 SO) of the Houston Astros; third baseman Josh Jung (.458, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, .875 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; and outfielder Matt Wallner (.636, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 2 R, 1.000 SLG, .714 OBP) of the Minnesota Twins.
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included designated hitter J.D. Martinez (.429, 2 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, .929 SLG) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (.440, 5 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 R, .760 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; outfielder Michael Conforto (.423, 1 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, 1 SB, .808 SLG) of the San Francisco Giants; catcher/designated hitter Francisco Álvarez (.400, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 R, .950 SLG) and first baseman Pete Alonso (.364, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB, .909 SLG) of the New York Mets; outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler (.290, 1 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, .806 SLG) of the Miami Marlins; third baseman Austin Riley (.357, 5 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, .857 SLG) of the Atlanta Braves; starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (1-1, 1.93 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; catcher Elias Díaz (.375, 3 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, .875 SLG) and infielder Ryan McMahon (.320, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB, 6 R, .760 SLG) of the Colorado Rockies; infielder/outfielder Rougned Odor (.292, 1 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 4 R, 2 SB, .708 SLG) of the San Diego Padres; and McLain’s teammate Spencer Steer (.406, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 9 R, .719 SLG) of the Reds.
Center fielder Jake Meyers of the Houston Astros earned his first career Play of the Week Award, and just the second by an Astros player since the award’s inception in 2019. Meyers joins former Houston shortstop Carlos Correa (April 2, 2019) as Astros to win the Play of the Week Award. In the bottom of the second inning of a 2-1 game against the Milwaukee Brewers last Monday, Meyers sprinted to deep center field to make a fantastic running catch before crashing into the center-field wall.
Additional Play of the Week candidates included Riley Greene’s home-run robbing catch in center field; Michael Harris II’s amazing grab at the center-field wall; Alec Bohm’s incredible diving stop and throw across the diamond from his knees; Daulton Guthrie’s great throw to the plate to save a run; Ji Hwan Bae’s terrific running catch in the ninth inning of a tied game; and Mike Yastrzemski’s leaping home-run robbery.