Shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason for the period ending May 6th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
In eight games last week, Lindor batted .425 (17-for-40) with four home runs, 10 RBI and four doubles for Cleveland, pacing all of Major League Baseball in hits, runs scored (11) and total bases (33). The fourth-year Major Leaguer drove in at least one run in six of the Indians’ eight games, and within his active nine-game hitting streak was a span of six consecutive contests (Apr. 30th-May 4th) of two-or-more hits. In the Thursday, May 3rd home doubleheader vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, the two-time AL All-Star went a combined 5-for-12 on the day, including a two-homer game in the opener. The 24-year-old Lindor, who finished fifth in AL Most Valuable Player balloting last season, is now batting .283 with 10 doubles, eight home runs, 20 RBI, five stolen bases, a .350 on-base percentage and .517 slugging. Nicknamed “Mr. Smile,” this is the Puerto Rico native’s first career AL Player of the Week honors and Cleveland’s first of 2018.
On Friday at Seattle, Los Angeles Angels first baseman/designated hitter Albert Pujols became the 32nd player in the history of Major League Baseball to collect 3,000 career hits. Pujols became just the fourth Major Leaguer ever to reach both 600 career home runs and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.
Other candidates for AL Player of the Week were Pujols’ teammate, two-time AL Most Valuable Player Mike Trout (.545, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 8 BB, 8 R, .667 OBP); outfielder Eddie Rosario (.433, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 4 2B) of the Minnesota Twins; outfielder Mookie Betts (.400, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1.200 SLG) of the Boston Red Sox; New York Yankees teammates Gleyber Torres (.348, 2 HR, 9 RBI) and Domingo Germán (0.00 ERA, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 13 SO); Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jake Faria (2-0, 0.68 ERA, 13.1 IP, 6 H, 10 SO); Houston Astros hurlers Gerrit Cole (1 SHO, 9.0 IP, 1 H, 16 SO) and Justin Verlander (0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 6 H, 22 SO); and Seattle Mariners southpaw James Paxton (0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 16 SO).
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Francisco Lindor will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.