Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves named National League Player of the Week; Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox named American League Player of the Week

All-Star catcher Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves has been selected the National League Player of the Week, and outfielder Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox has been named the American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Baldwin earned his first career honor, marking Atlanta’s first award of the season after the club had three players win the award in 2025, with Baldwin’s All-Star teammate Matt Olson being the last to win on September 22nd. Abreu also earned his first career award, marking the second honor of the year for Boston after Willson Contreras garnered honors on May 26th.

Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (@drakerbaldwin)

• The 25-year-old hit .714 (10-for-14) with three homers, eight RBI, a walk, five runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.357 slugging percentage and a .733 on-base percentage in three games.
• The Madison, Wisconsin native led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (2.090), hits and total bases (19); tied for first in RBI and runs scored; and tied for second in home runs.
• One of 36 first-time All-Stars in 2026, Baldwin racked up a career-best five hits on Sunday against Texas, becoming Atlanta’s first player with a five-hit game since Whit Merrifield in August 2024. Baldwin is the youngest Brave to achieve the feat since Michael Harris II had a five-hit game in June 2023 at the age of 22, and he became the first Brave with multiple home runs as part of a five-hit performance since his teammate Ozzie Albies in June 2021. Baldwin is just the sixth player in Braves history with a five-hit game as a catcher, joining Johnny Estrada (2004); Eddie Perez (1999); Biff Pocoroba (1982); Walker Cooper (1951); and Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi (1942).
• The 2025 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winner opened the second half with a three-hit, five-RBI game on Friday against Texas, becoming the second Brave this season with a five-RBI performance, joining fellow catcher Jonah Heim. The Braves are one of two clubs to have multiple games of at least five RBI by catchers this season, joining the Orioles, and it is just the fifth time in franchise history that the Braves have achieved the feat twice in a single season, joining 2006, 2003 (3x), 1966 and 1950.
• The third-round pick in the 2022 Draft out of Missouri State University has not struck out in 34 consecutive plate appearances dating back to July 8th, marking the longest active streak in the Majors. With 10 hits and eight RBI in the three-game set with the Rangers, Baldwin became the first Braves player to reach those marks in a three-game set and the first to reach those marks in a series of any length since Harris had 10 hits and nine RBI against the Mets in a four-game series earlier this month.

Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox (@wilyerabreu)

• The 27-year-old hit .357 (5-for-14) with four homers, six RBI, two walks, five runs scored, a 1.214 slugging percentage and a .471 on-base percentage across four contests.
• The Maracaibo, Venezuela native led the Majors in home runs; tied for the Major League lead in runs scored; ranked second to only Baldwin in total bases (17); tied for second in extra-base hits (4); tied for third in RBI; and ranked fourth in slugging and OPS (1.685).
• The two-time Rawlings Gold Glover had back-to-back two-homer games on Friday and Saturday against the Rays, becoming the first Red Sox player with multiple home runs in consecutive games since Mookie Betts on May 31-June 1, 2016. He is just the third Red Sox player ever to achieve the feat at Fenway Park, also joining George Scott in September 1971.
• Now in his fourth season with the Red Sox, Abreu is Boston’s first player with back-to-back two-homer games of at least three RBI since Nomar Garciaparra in July 2002. He is the second player to achieve the feat this season, joining Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who had five home runs and 11 RBI across a pair of games against the Padres from June 30th-July 1st.
• Abreu hit a game-tying two-run home run in the first inning and followed with a game-winning solo home run in the third inning of Game 2 during Boston’s doubleheader on Friday. He delivered a go-ahead solo blast in the third inning, followed by a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning on Saturday. Per OptaSTATS, Abreu became the first player in MLB history to hit multiple game-tying or go-ahead home runs in a victory two days in a row.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Andrés Chaparro (.500, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 4 R, 1.250 SLG, .600 OBP) of the Washington Nationals; first baseman Ty France (.417, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1.333 SLG, .500 OBP) and outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (.500, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 4 R, 2 SB, 1.000 SLG, .571 OBP) of the San Diego Padres; All-Star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.00 ERA, 1 GS, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; second baseman Nico Hoerner (.615, 5 RBI, 1 3B, 2 R, .769 SLG, .615 OBP) of the Chicago Cubs; Baldwin’s Atlanta teammates, third baseman Austin Riley (.500, 3 HR, 6 H, 5 RBI, 5 R, 1.250 SLG) and All-Star pitcher Chris Sale (0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 SO); and All-Star starting pitcher Nolan McLean (0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 SO) of the New York Mets.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included catcher Carter Jensen (.500, 2 RBI, 4 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, .833 SLG, .571 OBP) and outfielder Lane Thomas (.364, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, 1 SB, 1.000 SLG, .462 OBP) of the Kansas City Royals; second baseman Cole Young (.364, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, .909 SLG, .364 OBP) of the Seattle Mariners; outfielder Tyler Soderstrom (.333, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, .833 SLG, .385 OBP), shortstop Jacob Wilson (.429, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, .643 SLG, .429 OBP) and All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers (.364, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, .818 SLG, .462 OBP) of the Athletics; starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; rookie outfielder Braden Montgomery (.333, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, 1 SB, .583 SLG, .333 OBP) and starting pitcher Sean Burke (0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman (0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 SV, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; and utilityman Luke Keaschall (.444, 2 BB, 1 R, .545 OBP) of the Minnesota Twins.

Play of the Week
Leg-Kick Deflection by Brandon Young of the Baltimore Orioles
July 19th at Daikin Park – Watch It Here

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Brandon Young earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the 15th award for the Orioles since the inception of the award in 2019. The Orioles 15 awards include a Major League-record eight honors from Cedric Mullins (8x: 9/20/2021, 5/8/2023, 7/10/2023, 8/14/2023, 9/18/2023, 4/8/2024, 4/22/2024 & 8/4/2025), joined by honors from Anthony Santander (6/8/2019); Austin Hays (2x: 9/23/2019 & 8/7/2023); Stevie Wilkerson (9/30/2019); and Gunnar Henderson (2x: 7/24/2023 & 9/5/2023). Young is the first pitcher to claim the Play of the Week Award since Tyler Matzek of the Braves on May 10, 2021. With no outs in the bottom of the first inning against the Houston Astros, Jose Altuve roped a ball back up the middle as Young deflected the ball with his foot and barehanded it in a hacky sack-style before throwing to first to retire Houston’s leadoff man. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Tyler O’Neill’s outfield assist in extra innings; Ernie Clement’s great jump throw in the Midsummer Classic; Ceddanne Rafaela’s diving catch; Joshua Kuroda-Grauer’s diving catch; and Colt Emerson’s diving play.