Surging Rafaela, Alcantara earn Player of the Week honors
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Outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela powered the Red Sox to a 6-1 week, capped by a sweep of the Dodgers over the weekend. Starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara spearheaded a winning week for the Marlins with two scoreless starts. On Monday, they were named the AL and NL Players of the Week, respectively.
Meanwhile, outfielder Dane Myers’ game-sealing catch for the Reds on Tuesday has earned Play of the Week honors.
Rafaela has garnered attention for his defense through his first four big league seasons, but he made headlines with his bat last week as he batted .419 (13-for-31) with an MLB-best five home runs.
The 25-year-old center fielder belted his first career grand slam on Monday against the A’s and then went deep in each of Boston’s three road wins against the reigning two-time World Series champions in Los Angeles. He recorded just his second two-homer game in the Majors on Saturday.
No player had more RBIs this past week than Rafaela (11), and he paced the AL with a 1.387 OPS. This is his first Player of the Week honor and the second for a Red Sox player this season, following outfielder Wilyer Abreu’s selection from two weeks ago.
Alcantara came up big twice for the Marlins to keep them in the NL Wild Card hunt. He tossed seven innings in a 1-0 shutout of the Phillies on Tuesday and followed that up with six scoreless innings against the Mets on Sunday.
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The right-hander’s 13 innings were the most of any pitcher last week. He recorded 10 strikeouts and a 0.85 WHIP over his two starts. Thanks in part to the workhorse’s efforts, Miami entered Monday just 1 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.
This is the second time Alcantara has been named NL Player of the Week. He was honored for the week of May 16 during his NL Cy Young Award-winning 2022 season.
Myers got on his horse to track down a deep drive to center field by the Guardians’ Petey Halpin with two outs in the top of the ninth in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Tuesday. Then, almost simultaneously, the ball found Myers’ glove right as he crashed into the fence. Undeterred, he hung onto the ball to secure Cincinnati’s 2-0 victory over its in-state foe.
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