Cubs News: Marcus Stroman named National League Player of the Week |
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet**, and Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager** has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Stroman, a nine-year veteran, earned his first career weekly award and became the first Cubs winner since his teammate Seiya Suzuki in April 2022. Additionally, Stroman is the first Cubs hurler to win the award since his teammate Alec Mills in September 2020. Seager, also in his ninth Major League season, picked up his third career weekly honor and his second since joining the Rangers prior to the 2022 season. Seager previously won with the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 2019 before earning his first award with Texas last July. Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs (@stroman) The 32-year-old right-hander won each of his two starts last week without allowing an earned run. Over 15.0 innings pitched, including a complete-game shutout, he allowed just five hits and four walks with 14 strikeouts. The 2019 AL All-Star tossed his second career complete-game shutout in Chicago’s 1-0 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays at Wrigley Field last Monday, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and holding the MLB-best Rays to one hit and one walk with eight strikeouts in the 105-pitch outing. The performance marked the first complete game for a Cubs starter since a no-hitter by Mills on September 13, 2020 at Milwaukee. The Medford, New York native followed up his shutout with 6.0 innings on Sunday afternoon at San Diego, limiting the Padres to one unearned run on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in a 7-1 win. Dating back to August 30, 2022, the 2017 Gold Glove Award winner has allowed no more than two runs in 16 of his 20 starts, pitching to a 2.31 ERA (31 ER in 121.0 IP), which is the lowest ERA in the Majors during that span. Enters play today at 6-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 68 strikeouts on the season while holding opposing batters to a .186 batting average. His 11 quality starts are the most in the Majors this season. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (@coreyseager5) The 29-year-old hit .407 (11-for-27) with two home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, seven runs, a .741 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage across six games played last week. The North Carolina native tied for the AL lead in hits, ranked second in RBI and total bases (20), tied for second in runs, tied for fourth in homers, was fifth in slugging and tied for fifth in doubles. The three-time All-Star collected multiple hits in five of his six games played, highlighted by a three-hit, three-RBI performance on Saturday in a 16-6 win against the visiting Seattle Mariners. The 2020 NLCS and World Series MVP combined to go 7-for-12 across the three-game set vs. Seattle with a homer, three doubles and six RBI as the Rangers earned a three-game sweep of their AL West rival. Since returning from the Injured List on May 17th, Seager’s 22 RBI are the most in the Majors. The 2016 Jackie Robinson NL Rookie of the Year has registered at least one RBI in 12 of his 16 games during that span. Enters play today with a .349 batting average, six home runs and 29 RBI in his 27 games played this season while helping the Rangers to a 38-20 mark – their best 58-game start to a season in franchise history. Other noteworthy NL performances last week included Miami Marlins infielder and 2022 AL Batting Champion Luis Arraez (.522, 3 2B, 7 RBI, 2 R, .652 SLG, .538 OBP), who leads the Majors with a .392 batting average on the season; outfielder Mookie Betts (.360, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB, .840 SLG), designated hitter J.D. Martinez (.273, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 5 R, .864 SLG) and starting pitcher Bobby Miller (1-0, 0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 5 H, 11 SO) of the Dodgers; outfielder Nick Castellanos (.458, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB, 2 R, .750 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; outfielder Eddie Rosario (.400, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 R, 1.000 SLG) of the Atlanta Braves; closer David Bednar (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 4 SO) and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes (.450, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, .900 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; infielders Ryan McMahon (.393, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 R, .714 SLG) and Ezequiel Tovar (.385, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5 2B, 1 SB, 3 R, .692 SLG) of the Colorado Rockies; outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (.360, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 2B, 2 SB, 5 R, .720 SLG) of the San Diego Padres; and starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (1-1, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 13 H, 12 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals. Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included Seager’s teammates Jonah Heim (.409, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 3 2B, 3 R, .682 SLG) and Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 5 H, 11 SO) of the Rangers; two-way star Shohei Ohtani (.310, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 7 R, .759 SLG) and outfielder Taylor Ward (.385, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 3 R, .654 SLG) of the Los Angeles Angels; third baseman Alex Bregman (.435, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 R, .696 SLG, .552 OBP) of the Houston Astros; outfielder Aaron Judge (.294, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 6 R, 1.059 SLG) and infielder/outfielder Jake Bauers (.412, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 4 R, 1.059 SLG, .500 OBP) of the New York Yankees; outfielder Will Brennan (.524, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, 1 SB, .762 SLG, .565 OBP) and starting pitcher Logan Allen (2-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 10 H, 14 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians; and outfielder Masataka Yoshida (.435, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 2B, 5 R, .730 SLG, .519 OBP) of the Boston Red Sox. Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet Incredible Diving Catch After Long Run by Kevin Kiermaier of the Toronto Blue Jays Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier of the Toronto Blue Jays earned his third career Play of the Week Award, all of which have come this season. He becomes the fourth player to win three Play of the Week Awards in a single season, joining Byron Buxton (2022), Lorenzo Cain (2019) and Riley Greene (2022). In addition, it marks the eighth win for a Blue Jays player, marking the most by any team since the inception of the award in 2019. In the top of the second inning of a 3-0 game against the Milwaukee Brewers last Thursday, Kiermaier sprinted 92 feet to deep right-center field to make an incredible diving grab to take away an extra-base hit from Andruw Monasterio. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Aaron Judge’s incredible running catch before crashing through the right-field fence; Jose Siri’s game-ending diving catch; Travis Jankowski’s leaping grab at the right-field wall; and Corbin Carroll’s unbelievable sliding catch in center field.
