Mesa, Merrill earn Player of the Week honors during pivotal stretch
The 2026 regular season may be on its last legs, but the same cannot be said for the latest weekly award winners – AL Player of the Week Victor Mesa Jr., who turned 25 years old on Tuesday, 23-year-old NL Player of the Week Jackson Merrill and 21-year-old Play of the Week recipient Luis Lara. The trio of young outfielders performed at their best with the stakes at their highest, as the Rays, Padres and Brewers make a final push to determine their playoff fate.
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It’d be fair to call Mesa a ‘tough out’ this week, as he reached base in 14 of 22 plate appearances (.636 OBP) while recording six extra-base hits, including homers in three consecutive games. He was a big part of a big week for the Rays, who went 5-1 against a pair of division-leaders in the Braves and Astros and outscored their opponents 35-13. On Friday night, Tampa Bay clinched its first playoff berth since 2023 on a walk-off homer from Junior Caminero.
Mesa may be earning his first Player of the Week Award, but he’s been hot for months now. Since July 7, the rookie is batting .317 with a 1.014 OPS – second-best in baseball during that span behind Tyrone Taylor (min. 100 PA) – while clubbing 10 homers and stealing seven bases in 40 games. Entering Monday, he boasts the sixth-best bWAR (2.8) and fWAR (2.5) on the AL’s best team, despite only appearing in 68 games this season.
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Merrill earned his second career Player of the Week Award, having won one during his rookie season in 2024. The Padres went 6-0 this week, propelling them to a 2 1/2-game lead over the D-backs for the third NL Wild Card Spot. Merrill has played a critical part in that surge.
The 23-year-old sizzled during San Diego’s three-game sweep vs. Washington, going 3-for-4 in Monday’s opener, recording a sac fly on Tuesday night and going 4-for-5 with two homers in Wednesday’s finale. Merrill’s performance made him the first Padre with nine RBIs in a three-game span since Juan Soto (Sept. 16-18, 2023). He followed that up in San Francisco with a three-hit night on Friday, a homer on Saturday and a two-run double off Logan Webb on Sunday.
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There was a lot for Brewers fans to like in the Crew’s playoff-clinching, 20-0 rout over the Reds on Friday night, but nobody stole the show quite like Lara. Three innings after making a fine sliding play in the second, the 5-foot-7 right fielder pulled off a mesmerizing leap over the fence to rob Eugenio Suárez of a homer. No one seemed to believe it – not starter Dustin May, not center fielder Garrett Mitchell and not even Lara himself, who is quickly building a reputation in the field.
"It was just incredible," Mitchell said after the game. "But at this point, it’s like you’re surprised, but then you’re not surprised at the same time. It’s like, there he goes again. Air Lara."