Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox named American League Player of the Week; Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins named National League Player of the Week
All-Star outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox has been named the American League Player of the Week, and starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins has been selected the National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Rafaela earned his first career award, marking the third honor for Boston this season after his teammates Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu won on May 26th and July 20th, respectively. It is the first time three Red Sox players have garnered honors in the same season since 2023, when Adam Duvall won twice, joined by Masataka Yoshida and Rafael Devers. Alcantara earned his second career honor after previously winning on May 23, 2022, marking the last time a Marlins pitcher won the award. It is the second award for Miami this season after Otto Lopez took home honors on July 6th.
Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox (@ceddanner)
- The 25-year-old hit .419 (13-for-31) with five homers, 11 RBI, two doubles, two stolen bases, a .968 slugging percentage and a .419 on-base percentage across seven contests.
- The Willemstad, Curaçao native paced the Majors in homers, RBI and total bases (30); tied for the Major League lead in hits and extra-base hits (7); ranked second in slugging; third in OPS (1.387); and tied for third in runs scored.
- The 2026 All-Star helped the Red Sox to a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium with a home run in each game, including a pair of longballs on Saturday night for his second career multi-homer game, joining May 31, 2024. It is the third time in his career that he has hit a home run in three straight games, joining a pair of streaks in 2025 between June 2nd-4th and July 5th-7th. Rafaela joined Xander Bogaerts (July 12-14, 2019 at Fenway Park) as the only Red Sox players to ever homer in three straight games against the Dodgers.
- The 2025 Rawlings Gold Glover has recorded five straight contests with multiple hits, marking the longest streak of his career. He is Boston’s first player with multiple hits in at least five consecutive games since Jarren Duran also achieved the feat in five straight games from July 13-21, 2024. Rafaela became the first Red Sox player with at least four homers and seven hits in a three-game series since Mookie Betts also had seven hits and four homers in April 2018.
- Now in his fourth season with Boston, Rafaela launched his first career grand slam on Monday night at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento against the Athletics, providing all of the offense in a 4-2 win for the Red Sox with a towering blast in the sixth inning. Overall, he has hit safely in each of his last seven games and 24 of his 27 contests since July 1st. Boston has gone 50-30 when Rafaela records a hit this season and are 25-7 in games that he records multiple hits.
Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins (@sandyalcantaramph)
- Across two starts, the 30-year-old went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/13.0 IP) while allowing eight hits with three walks, 10 strikeouts, a 0.85 WHIP, a .167 opponents’ batting average and 6.92 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
- The Azua, Dominican Republic native led qualified pitchers in ERA and innings pitched; and was one of nine pitchers to notch a pair of wins last week. He ranked sixth in the NL in opponents’ batting average; ranked seventh in WHIP; and tied for seventh in strikeouts.
- The two-time All-Star notched a pair of wins behind 7.0 scoreless innings on Tuesday against Philadelphia and 6.0 scoreless frames on Sunday at Citi Field against the Mets. He held Philadelphia to just four hits with a walk and five strikeouts, and limited the Mets to four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Alcantara has now thrown at least 6.0 innings in each of his last six starts with the outings marking his second and third scoreless starts of the season (also: 4/1 vs. CWS).
- The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner has now made 137 career starts of at least 6.0 innings, surpassing Ricky Nolasco (134 GS of 6.0+ IP) for the most in franchise history. He has thrown at least 6.0 innings in 20 of his 24 starts this season, the most of any pitcher in Baseball. Additionally, Alcantara extended his franchise record and now has 1,041 career strikeouts after surpassing Nolasco (1,001 SO) for the franchise record on June 23rd.
- The nine-year veteran right-hander recorded his 112th career quality start on Sunday after setting the franchise record with a quality start on Tuesday against Philadelphia, surpassing Nolasco’s previous record of 110 quality starts. His 17 quality starts are the most in the Majors this season, and since his first career quality start on September 5, 2018, he is tied for sixth-most in the Majors, matching José Berríos and trailing only Zack Wheeler (138 QS); Luis Castillo (123 QS); Framber Valdez (116 QS); Gerrit Cole (115 QS); and Logan Webb (114 QS).
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included shortstop Jeremy Peña (.345, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 6 R, .724 SLG, .387 OBP), catcher Yainer Diaz (.571, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 1.000 SLG, .571 OBP), and closer Josh Hader (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 SO) of the Houston Astros; rookie catcher Eduardo Valencia (.474, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 6 R, .947 SLG, .474 OBP), first baseman Spencer Torkelson (.423, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 7 R, .577 SLG, .414 OBP) and rookie All-Star infielder Kevin McGonigle (.385, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 9 R, .615 SLG, .471 OBP) of the Detroit Tigers; starting pitcher Gavin Williams (1.42 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 22 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians; second baseman Cole Young (.448, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 R, .655 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Seattle Mariners; starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (0.77 ERA, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 12 SO) of the New York Yankees; rookie starting pitcher Walbert Ureña (0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 12 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star closer Bryan Baker (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and Rafaela’s Red Sox teammate, All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 SO).
Other noteworthy NL performances last week included third baseman Alex Bregman (.429, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 2B, 3 BB, 8 R, .750 SLG, .484 OBP), second baseman Nico Hoerner (.423, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 4 R, 3 SB, .654 SLG, .444 OBP), starting pitcher David Peterson (2.25 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 11 SO) and starting pitcher Colin Rea (2.25 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 9 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; All-Star designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (.500, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 5 BB, 4 R, 1.000 SLG, .609 OBP) and All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman (.458, 2 RBI, 1 R, .458 SLG, .458 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.346, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 4 R, .808 SLG, .433 OBP) of the New York Mets; rookie catcher Daniel Susac (.417, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1.250 SLG, .429 OBP) of the San Francisco Giants; All-Star closer Mason Miller (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 1 SV, 3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 SO) of the San Diego Padres; All-Star first baseman Matt Olson (.269, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 7 R, .769 SLG, .321 OBP), starting pitcher Martín Pérez (2.25 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 10 SO), and All-Star closer Raisel Iglesias (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; second baseman Brandon Lowe (.367, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .667 SLG, .406 OBP) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; starting pitcher Kyle Freeland (1.00 ERA, 1 GS, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 SO) of the Colorado Rockies; and All-Star starting pitcher Chase Burns (1.64 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 13 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
Game-Ending Leaping Catch by Dane Myers of the Cincinnati Reds
July 28th at Great American Ball Park – Watch It Here
Cincinnati Reds center fielder Dane Myers earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the seventh honor for the Reds since the inception of the award in 2019. Other Cincinnati Players to win the award include Yasiel Puig (5/19/2019); Will Benson (4/10/2023); three-time winner Elly De La Cruz (7/15/2024, 4/7/2025 & 4/21/2025); and Noelvi Marte (9/29/2025). With two outs, a runner on second and the potential tying run at the plate for the Guardians in the ninth inning of a 2-0 game, Petey Halpin hit a fly ball to center field as Myers ranged back towards the alley and collided hard with the wall, securing the catch to end the game. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Colton Cowser’s diving catch to take away extra bases; Isaac Collins’ diving grab; Masyn Winn’s diving stop and long throw from shallow left field; Taylor Trammell’s long run and nice catch; Angel Martínez’s leaping catch into the stands; Jake Cronenworth’s great diving play; Nasim Nuñez’s diving stop and throw from his knees; and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s leaping catch to rob a home run.