Gavin Sheets and Angel Martínez Named Players of the Week

First baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets of the San Diego Padres has been selected the National League Player of the Week, and outfielder Angel Martínez of the Cleveland Guardians has been named the American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Sheets won his first career award and is the first Padres player to win since his teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. earned the honor on April 21^st last season. Martínez also won his first career award, marking the third honor for the Guardians this season. Martínez joins his teammates Chase DeLauter (March 30^th) and José Ramírez (April 20^th) as winners this season, marking the first time the Guardians have garnered three awards in a single season since 2022. It is the first time three separate Cleveland players have won in a single season since 2018, when Ramírez won alongside Edwin Encarnación and Francisco Lindor (2x).

Gavin Sheets, San Diego Padres (@gsheets24)

• The 30-year-old hit .625 (10-for-16) with four homers, eight RBI, a double, seven walks, six runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.438 slugging percentage and a .739 on-base percentage across six contests.
• The Lutherville, Maryland native led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS (2.177); tied for the Major League lead in total bases (23) and homers; tied for third in walks; and tied for sixth in RBI and hits.
• The second-round selection in the 2017 Draft (by CWS) hammered a go-ahead three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday at Milwaukee, marking his third go-ahead home run in the ninth inning this season (also April 10^th COL & April 23^rd at COL). Sheets is the first player in Major League history to hit three go-ahead home runs with at least two runners on base in the ninth inning in a single season. He is the fourth player in Padres history to hit at least three go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning-or-later in a single season and the first since Melvin Upton Jr. in 2016.
• The Wake Forest University product hit safely in all six of his games, collecting a pair of hits on Tuesday at Milwaukee and Friday at Seattle, and three hits on Sunday at Seattle. He capped off his strong week with two homers on NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball, marking his second multi-homer game of the year (also April 10^th COL).
• The six-year Major League veteran reached base safely a career-high five times in Sunday’s contest. He became the 13^th player (15^th occurrence) to hit multiple home runs and reach base safely five times in a single game.

Angel Martínez, Cleveland Guardians (@martinez03)

• The 24-year-old hit .368 (7-for-19) with four homers, seven RBI, a double, a walk, eight runs scored, three stolen bases, a 1.053 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage across six games.
• The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native tied for the Major League lead in home runs; led American League hitters in total bases (20) and runs scored; tied for the AL lead in extra-base hits (5); tied for second in the AL in stolen bases; and tied for fourth in the AL in RBI.
• Martínez tallied an RBI in five consecutive games to close out the week, homering in four of the five contests. Overall, he has an RBI in a career-best six consecutive games since May 10^th, marking the longest streak by a Cleveland player aged 24-or-younger since Grady Sizemore also had an RBI in six consecutive games from May 18-24, 2006. Martínez is the first Guardians player with at least one hit and one RBI in six straight contests since Josh Bell in 2023 and is aiming to become the first Guardians player with a hit and RBI in seven straight games since Shin-Soo Choo in September 2012.
• After hitting 11 homers in 139 games last season, the outfielder paces the Guardians with nine home runs this year, including four go-ahead blasts. Three of his four longballs last week were go-ahead homers, including a go-ahead two-run shot with two outs in the seventh inning on Saturday against Cincinnati. His nine homers are third-most among switch hitters, trailing only Elly De La Cruz (11 HR) and Ian Happ (10 HR).
• Martínez tallied a stolen base on Tuesday against the Angels and added two more stolen bases on Wednesday. He is one of four players this season with at least eight home runs and eight stolen bases, joining De La Cruz (11 HR/9 SB), Sal Stewart (10 HR/10 SB) and Oneil Cruz (10 HR/16 SB).

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielder Daylen Lile (.385, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 6 R, 1 SB, .885 SLG) of the Washington Nationals; second baseman Luis Arraez (.414, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 5 BB, 6 R, .690 SLG, .500 OBP) of the San Francisco Giants; outfielder J.J. Bleday (.375, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 4 BB, 5 R, .750 SLG) of the Cincinnati Reds; starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 13 SO), designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (.250, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .792 SLG) and starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (2-0, 0.63 ERA, 2 GS, 14.1 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 12 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; catcher Drake Baldwin (.333, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .810 SLG, .400 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; rookie outfielders Carson Benge (.393, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 5 R, 2 SB, .429 SLG) and A.J. Ewing (.294, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 3B, 7 BB, 5 R, 2 SB, .588 SLG, .500 OBP) of the New York Mets; outfielder Corbin Carroll (.421, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 9 BB, 8 R, 2 SB, .895 SLG, .607 OBP) and starting pitcher Michael Soroka (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 13 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 SO/.364, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .682 SLG) for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included outfielder Randy Arozarena (.423, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, 3 SB, .615 SLG, .484 OBP) of the Seattle Mariners; first baseman Jake Burger (.421, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .789 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Texas Rangers; first baseman Nick Kurtz (.353, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, .941 SLG, .560 OBP) of the Athletics; Martínez’s Guardians teammates, rookie second baseman Travis Bazzana (.391, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, .435 SLG, .440 OBP) and relief pitcher Cade Smith (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 7 SO); starting pitcher Bailey Ober (1.93 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 8 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.1 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 5 SO) of the Houston Astros; and relief pitcher Grant Taylor (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 SO) of the Chicago White Sox.

Play of the Week

Home Run Robbery by Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners

May 16^th at T-Mobile Park – Watch It Here

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the fifth honor for Seattle since the award’s inception in 2019. Other Mariners to win the award include Kyle Lewis (9/21/2020); Jake Fraley (6/14/2021); Dylan Moore (10/2/2023); and Jorge Polanco/Leo Rivas (8/12/2024). With the Mariners trailing 7-4 in the top of the ninth inning, Rodolfo Durán, who hit his first career home run in his previous at-bat, hit a ball to deep center field as Rodríguez made a leaping catch and brough the home run back. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Brandon Nimmo’s home run robbery in the Silver Boot Series; Tristan Peters’ diving catch in the Crosstown Classic; Kevin McGonigle’s long run and diving catch; Nathan Church’s fantastic diving grab in the I-70 Series; Pete Crow-Armstrong’s leaping catch at the wall; and Xander Bogaerts’ backhand stop and long throw in the Vedder Cup.