Players of the Week 8/16

Florida Marlins rookie outfielder Mike Stanton has been named Bank of America Presents the National League Player of the Week for the period of August 9-15, 2010. Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball, is the presenting sponsor of the National League and American League Player of the Week Awards, which reflect Bank of America’s long-standing tradition of promoting and recognizing higher standards of accomplishment.

In six games last week, Stanton led the Majors with a .583 (14-24) batting average. His five doubles, 14 hits, 1.292 slugging percentage, .630 on-base percentage and 31 total bases also led the big leagues, while his four home runs were tied for first. Stanton collected eight RBI on the week, good for second in the N.L., while scoring five runs. The California native tied a club record for hits in his 5-for-5 performance that highlighted a 9-5 win at Washington on August 11th. The 6’5″, 235 lb. Stanton also tied a career-best with four RBI in that game. The 20-year-old slugger added a home run and two RBI the following day in a 5-0 Marlin victory, completing a three-game sweep of the Nationals. Stanton, a second round selection in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, went 8-for-12 in the series with two homers and six RBI. On August 13th, Stanton went 3-for-5 with two home runs in a 7-2 loss at Cincinnati, marking the youngster’s first multi-home run performance. Stanton hit safely in every game this week, including four multi-hit games. Since having his contract selected on June 8th, Stanton leads all Major League rookies in home runs and is tied for the lead in RBI, ranks second in doubles and is fifth in runs scored. This is Mike’s first weekly award.

Other nominees this past week included Stanton’s teammates Logan Morrison (.409, 7 RBI, .552 OBP) and Dan Uggla (.391, 2 HR, 7 RBI); San Francisco’s Pat Burrell (.296, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and Pablo Sandoval (.360, 2 HR, 9 H, 3 2B); Starlin Castro (.364, 12 H, SB), Derrek Lee (.455, 4 HR) and Ryan Dempster (2-0, 2.03, 13.1 IP, 9 SO) of the Cubs; Matt Holliday (.455, 5 RBI) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Arizona’s Miguel Montero (.304, 4 HR, 6 R); Scott Podsednik (.500, 2 2B, 13 H, .536 OBP) of the Dodgers; Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman (.409, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .773 SLG); San Diego’s Heath Bell (0.00, 4 SO, 4 SV) and Wade LeBlanc (2-0, 2.13, 12.2 IP, 15 SO); and teammates R.A. Dickey (1-0, 0.00, SHO, 7 SO) and Johan Santana (1-0, 0.00, SHO, 10 SO), who became the first pair of Mets pitchers to post back-to-back shutouts since May 14-15, 2002, when Pedro Astacio and Jeff D’Amico went the distance in consecutive two-hitters.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Bobby Abreu has been named of the Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week for the period ending August 15th. Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball, is the presenting sponsor of the American League and National League Player of the Week Awards, which reflect Bank of America’s longstanding tradition of promoting and recognizing higher standards of accomplishment.

Abreu hit safely in each of his six games played last week and posted an A.L.-best .524 (11-for-21) batting average with two home runs and five RBI. The two-time All-Star also led the league with a .615 on-base percentage, tied for first with 11 hits, ranked second with a .952 slugging percentage and tied for second with three doubles. On Monday, August 9th against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium, the Venezuelan native went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two runs scored while tying his seasonhigh with four RBI in the Angels’ 6-4 victory. On Wednesday, August 11th, Abreu connected for his eighth career walk-off hit and fourth career walk-off home run with a solo shot in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Angels to a 2-1 win and a three-game sweep of the Royals. In the three-game set, the 36-year-old slugger went 7-for-12 (.583) with two home runs, two doubles and five RBI. Abreu, who is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, is batting .394 (13-for-33) since assuming the leadoff role for the Angels, who have gone 6-3 during that span. This marks the first career A.L. weekly award for Abreu, who has won N.L. honors three times during his career (previous: May 9-15, 2005 with the Phillies).

Other noteworthy performances for the week included Minnesota’s Joe Mauer (.478, 1 HR, 4 RBI); Nelson Cruz (.412, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the Rangers; Detroit’s Ryan Raburn (.400, 3 HR, 5 RBI); Rays rookie right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 SO); Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 14.1 IP, 11 SO); and teammates Felix Hernandez (1-1, 0.00 ERA, 14.2 IP, 20 SO) and David Aardsma (3.0 IP, 3 SV, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 SO) of the Mariners.

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Original Story: http://fullcountpitch.com/2010/08/16/...