New York's Gerrit Cole named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Arizona's Zac Gallen named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole has been selected the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Cole, currently in his 11^th Major League season, earned his second career Player of the Week Award and his first as a member of the Yankees. Cole, who previously won for the final week of the 2019 season while pitching for Houston, is the first Yankees pitcher to be honored since Corey Kluber (May 24, 2021 following his no-hitter). Gallen, who is in his fifth big league season, also picked up his second career weekly honor after winning on September 6^th of last season. This marks the first time in which the winners in both leagues have been pitchers since May 10, 2021, when Baltimore’s John Means and Cincinnati’s Wade Miley were both honored for their no-hitters.

Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees (@GerritCole45)

• The 32-year-old right-hander went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA across two starts last week. In 16.0 innings pitched, he permitted seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts.
• On Tuesday at Cleveland, the five-time All-Star permitted two runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in an 11-2 victory to improve to 3-0 on the season.
• The California native followed up that performance with a two-hit shutout on Sunday afternoon against the visiting Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Cole walked one and fanned 10 in the outing while improving to 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA on the season.
• Cole, who has finished in the top-five of Cy Young Award voting on five occasions, became the first pitcher in Yankees history with an ERA below 1.00 and at least 30 strikeouts through the first four starts of a season.

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks (@zacgallen23)

• The 27-year-old right-hander went 2-0 after tossing 13.2 scoreless innings across two starts, yielding just five hits and one walk with 18 strikeouts. His 13.2 innings pitched led the NL, while his 18 strikeouts were tops across the Majors last week.
• The University of North Carolina product fanned 11 batters over 7.0 scoreless innings in a home start on Monday against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. Gallen surrendered just three hits and one walk in the 96-pitch outing.
• On Sunday, Gallen worked 6.2 scoreless frames at Miami, permitting two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA on the season.
• With the 11-strikeout performance on Monday, Gallen now has six outings with at least 10 strikeouts, tied with Ian Kennedy for the seventh-most in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (106), Curt Schilling (38), Robbie Ray (23), Brandon Webb (12), Patrick Corbin (10), Zack Greinke (7) and Dan Haren (7).

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included outfielder Jarred Kelenic (.474, 2 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, 1.211 SLG), who homered in four consecutive contests from Monday-Thursday, and starting pitcher Luis Castillo (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 14 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; outfielder Brent Rooker (.417, 1 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R, .958 SLG) of the Oakland Athletics; outfielder Austin Hays (.467, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 11 R, .833 SLG), first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (4 HR, 13 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB), catcher Adley Rutschman (2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R) and infielder Jorge Mateo (.429, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB) of the Baltimore Orioles; starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (2-0, 1.64 ERA, 11.0 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 15 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.444, 12 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 6 R, 4 SB, .464 OBP) of the Kansas City Royals; shortstop Bo Bichette (.400, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, .600 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays; infielder Jake Burger (.333, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1.083 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; outfielder Michael A. Taylor (.360, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, .720 SLG) of the Twins; and closer Emmanuel Clase (0.00 ERA, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 4 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians.

Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included infielder Luis Arraez (.471, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, .500 OBP) of the Miami Marlins, who hit for the first cycle in franchise history on Tuesday night; catcher Sean Murphy (.391, 6 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 1.043 SLG) and outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (.480, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, .552 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; infielder Max Muncy (.350, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 5 R, 1.100 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.304, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 7 R, 1 SB, .826 SLG) and reliever David Robertson (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 2 SV, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 5 SO) of the New York Mets; infielder Alec Bohm (.393, 1 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 4 R, .469 OBP) of the Philadelphia Phillies; outfielder Wil Myers (.333, 1 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB) and starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 7 BB, 11 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; and first baseman Rowdy Tellez (.320, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, .800 SLG) of the Brewers.

ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Home Run-Robbing Catch by Kevin Kiermaier of the Toronto Blue Jays
April 11th at Rogers Centre – Watch It Here

Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier of the Toronto Blue Jays earned his first career Play of the Week Award and the sixth overall by a Blue Jays player since the honor was introduced in 2019. Toronto became just the fourth team to have at least six Play of the Week honors, joining Milwaukee (7), Atlanta (6) and the New York Mets (6). Kiermaier became the first Jays player to capture the award since George Springer last May. In the second inning of a scoreless game against the visiting Detroit Tigers last Tuesday night, Kiermaier raced back to the center field wall and leapt to take a home run away from Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Bobby Witt Jr.’s over-the-shoulder grab in extra innings; Brandon Nimmo’s game-saving diving grab in the 10^th inning; Jason Adam’s around-the-back snag on the mound to end the game; Chas McCormick’s diving grab in center; Brendan Donovan’s leaping catch in left field; Spencer Steer’s backhanded diving grab and throw across the diamond; Cody Bellinger’s home-run robbing catch in center; and Victor Caratini’s impressive barehanded catch in front of the plate.