Josh Bell, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. named W.B. Mason Players of the Week

First baseman Josh Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week, and rookie sensation Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays has been named the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Bell claimed his first career Player of the Week Award, and is the first Pirates position player to take home weekly honors since his former All-Star teammate Andrew McCutchen for the period ending October 2, 2017. Guerrero earned his first AL Player of the Week Award after making his Major League debut on April 26th and becomes the youngest player in Blue Jays history to accomplish the feat.

Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates (@bell.josh19)

• Posted a slash line of .407/.484/.889 with six runs scored, 11 hits, a double, four home runs, 10 RBI and four walks over seven games played.
• Among NL leaders, finished first in total bases (24); tied for first in hits, home runs and RBI; third in slugging percentage; tied for third in extra-base hits (5); and fourth in on-base percentage.
• Recorded his third-career multi-homer game on Saturday night against the San Diego Padres (also: May 4th & May 14th). Became the second switch-hitter in franchise history to post three multi-homer efforts in a single campaign, joining Bobby Bonilla (1990).
• Became the first Pirates player since Brian Giles (August 1999) to register three multi-homer games in a single calendar month. Joined Bob Skinner (1959) as the only players in Club history to log three such games before June 1st.
• Enters play today with 14 round-trippers on the season. His 14 homers through Pittsburgh’s first 43 games of the 2019 season were the most by a Pirates hitter since Hall of Famer Willie Stargell (15) in 1973.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays (@vladdyjr27)

• Batted .333 (7-for-21) with five runs scored, four home runs, three walks and a .905 slugging percentage across six games.
• Finished his award-winning week tied for first in home runs and total bases (19); tied for second in RBI; and third in slugging percentage against his AL counterparts.
• Posted his first career multi-homer outing on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants, becoming the youngest AL player to do so since Manny Machado in 2012. Became the first Blue Jays player in the Statcast era to club two homers of at least 110 mph in the same game.
• Following his first round-tripper on Tuesday, became the youngest player in franchise history to homer in a Major League game (20 years, 59 days).

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included third baseman Anthony Rendon (.435, 8 R, 6 XBH, 7 RBI) of the Washington Nationals; starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 1 CG SHO, 8 SO, 1 BB) of the Miami Marlins; All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman (.391, 6 R, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the Atlanta Braves; infielder Eduardo Escobar (.296, 7 R, 6 XBH, 10 RBI) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Josh’s Pirates teammate, starting pitcher Joe Musgrove (2-0, 2.03 ERA, 13.1 IP, 9 SO).

Other noteworthy AL performances were outfielder Byron Buxton (6 R, 7 H, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and shortstop Jorge Polanco (.433, 6 R, 13 H, 4 RBI) of the Minnesota Twins; starting pitcher Shane Bieber (15.1 IP, 2.93 ERA, 1 CG SHO; 21 SO) of the Cleveland Indians; outfielders Willie Calhoun (.476, 5 R, 10 H, 7 RBI) and Joey Gallo (.417, 5 R, 5 2B, 4 RBI) of the Texas Rangers; designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach (.333, 5 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners; starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 7 SO) of the Oakland Athletics; second baseman Tommy La Stella (.444, 4 R, 12 H, 2 HR) of the Los Angeles Angels; and starting pitcher Reynaldo López (1-0, 1.32 ERA, 13.2 IP, 7 SO) of the Chicago White Sox.

2014 NL All-Star Yasiel Puig earned his first Play of the Week and the first for the Cincinnati Reds. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning of Sunday’s game at Great American Ball Park, Puig ranged into foul territory before reaching into the stands along the foul line and making a tremendous catch. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Albert Almora Jr.’s leaping catch at the wall to rob an extra-base hit; Stevie Wilkerson’s display of range and athleticism in deep right-center field; Joey Rickard’s diving catch while charging in from right field; George Springer’s jumping catch at the wall to save a home run; and Manny Machado’s sliding stop at short before throwing out the runner at first.