Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers named National League Player of the Week; Ben Rice of the New York Yankees named American League Player of the Week

Starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers has been selected the National League Player of the Week, and first baseman/designated hitter Ben Rice of the New York Yankees has been named the American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Misiorowski earned his first career award, marking the first award for Milwaukee since his former teammate Isaac Collins won last year on August 11^th. He is the first Brewers pitcher to win the award since Brandon Woodruff on May 31, 2021, and the third pitcher to win this season, joining José Soriano (April 13^th) of the Los Angeles Angels and Cristopher Sánchez (May 11^th) of the Philadelphia Phillies. Rice also earned his first career honor, marking the first award for the Yankees since Aaron Judge won the final award of 2025 on September 29^th.

Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers (@jmisiorowski)

• Across two starts, the 24-year-old went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA (1 ER/14.0 IP), permitting five hits with a walk, 20 strikeouts, a 0.43 WHIP, a .106 opponents’ batting average and 12.86 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Blue Springs, Missouri native led the Majors in strikeouts and innings pitched; ranked fourth in WHIP; and ranked fifth in ERA and opponents’ batting average.
• The 2025 All-Star racked up 12 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals last Monday. His 12 strikeouts tied his career best (also: 7/8/25 vs. LAD), and his nine strikeouts on pitches of at least 100 MPH matched Hunter Greene (9/17/2022) for the most strikeouts of 100+ MPH in a single game in the Pitch Tracking Era (since 2008). Misiorowski’s scoreless innings streak came to an end when St. Louis scored in the sixth inning, with his 29.1 consecutive scoreless innings marking the third-longest single-season streak in franchise history behind Teddy Higuera (32.0 in 1987) and Freddy Peralta (30.0 in 2025).
• The second-round selection in the 2022 Draft finished off the month of May with 7.0 scoreless innings on Sunday at Houston, permitting just three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts as he lowered his ERA on the year to 1.65. He has racked up at least eight strikeouts in each of his last eight starts since April 19^th, and in 11 of his 12 starts overall this season. His five starts of at least 10 strikeouts are the most by a Brewers pitcher since Peralta notched six 10-strikeout games in 2023.
• MLB’s current strikeout leader (108 SO) has 53 strikeouts on pitches of at least 100 MPH this season, tied with Mason Miller (2024) for the sixth-most in a single season since 2008, with Aroldis Chapman holding each of the top-five spots (87 SO of 100+ MPH in 2015; 69 SO in 2014; 61 SO in 2016; 57 SO in 2023; 56 SO in 2013). Misiorowski’s 350 pitches of at least 100 MPH are the most in a single season by a starting pitcher, surpassing Greene, who had 337 pitches of 100+ MPH in 2022.

Ben Rice, New York Yankees (@ben_rice22)

• The 27-year-old hit .462 (12-for-26) with a homer, 11 RBI, four doubles, two triples, four walks, eight runs scored, an .885 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage in six games.
• The Cohasset, Massachusetts native led the Majors in hits; tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7), runs scored, triples and RBI; tied for second in total bases (23); ranked fifth in batting average and OPS (1.418); tied for fifth in doubles; and ranked sixth in on-base percentage and slugging.
• The 12^th-round selection in the 2021 Draft registered three straight multi-hit games, capped off by a four-hit game in the Yankees’ series opener against the Athletics on Friday in Sacramento. It marked his third career four-hit game (also: 4/17/25 @ TB & 9/21/25 @ BAL) and came in the midst of a four-game streak in which Rice reached base at least three times. He became the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since Judge reached base at least three times in four consecutive games in August 2024.
• The Dartmouth College product racked up four RBI in the Yankees’ 13-run barrage in the third inning on Sunday at Sutter Health Park, hitting a two-run double and a two-run triple. He became the ninth Yankee since 1969 (10^th occurrence) with multiple hits and at least four RBI in a single inning and the first to do so since his teammate Austin Wells in the seventh inning on May 6, 2025. Six of the 10 occurrences have featured a player recording multiple extra-base hits, and Rice joined Don Mattingly (7^th inn. on 4/11/1987) as the only players of the group to not hit a home run.
• Rice has recorded an RBI in a career-best five consecutive games, becoming the first Yankee with a hit and an RBI in five straight contests within a single season since Wells last April. Overall, he has reached base multiple times 29 games this season, including 16 multi-hit games.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr. (.333, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 8 BB, 5 R, 5 SB, 1.048 SLG, .517 OBP) and Michael Harris II (.440, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 5 R, .720 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; Misiorowski’s teammate, closer Trevor Megill (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 SO); outfielder Ian Happ (.323, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, .710 SLG, .344 OBP) and starting pitcher Ben Brown (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 13 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; outfielder Jung Hoo Lee (.733, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 R, 1.000 SLG, .733 OBP) of the San Francisco Giants; outfielder James Wood (.435, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 7 R, 2 SB, .870 SLG, .536 OBP), infielder Curtis Mead (.286, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 6 R, .762 SLG, .400 OBP) and starting pitcher Zack Littell (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 2 G, 1 GS, 13.0 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 12 SO) of the Washington Nationals; outfielder Bryan Reynolds (.478, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 6 BB, 8 R, .913 SLG, .581 OBP), first baseman Spencer Horwitz (.370, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 6 R, .630 SLG, .438 OBP) and starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (2-0, 2.19 ERA, 2 GS, 12.1 IP, 12 H, 1 BB, 16 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; outfielder JJ Bleday (.417, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .875 SLG, .481 OBP) and starting pitcher Nick Lodolo (2-0, 2.84 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 11 H, 4 BB, 11 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; and outfielder Juan Soto (.389, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 5 R, .889 SLG, .450 OBP) of the New York Mets.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.308, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 8 R, .923 SLG, .424 OBP) and his Houston Astros teammates, pitchers Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa, who combined to throw a no-hitter last Monday; first baseman Jonathan Aranda (.524, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 6 R, 1.000 SLG, .607 OBP) of the Tampa Bay Rays; Rice’s teammate, starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 SO); infielder Vaughn Grissom (.333, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .542 SLG, .393 OBP) of the Los Angeles Angels; outfielder Tyler Soderstrom (.500, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 5 BB, 4 R, 1.000 SLG, .609 OBP) of the Athletics; utilityman Blaze Alexander (.500, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .750 SLG, .545 OBP) and catcher Samuel Basallo (.429, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, .929 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Baltimore Orioles; designated hitter Joc Pederson (.231, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 7 R, .808 SLG, .333 OBP) of the Texas Rangers; and outfielder Jarren Duran (.393, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 6 R, .821 SLG, .419 OBP) of the Boston Red Sox.

PLAY OF THE WEEK
Inning-Ending Diving Catch in Foul Territory by Carter Jensen of the Kansas City Royals
May 30th at Globe Life Field – Watch It Here

Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the second time a catcher has won the award since its inception in 2019, with Jensen joining Luis Torrens of the New York Mets, who won on June 10, 2024. It is the fifth honor for Kansas City, with Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez earning a joint honor on April 11, 2022, followed by awards to Michael A. Taylor on May 9, 2022; Witt on May 15, 2023; and Adam Frazier on April 29, 2024. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Kansas City holding onto a 6-4 lead, Michael Helman tried to lay down a bunt and popped it up into foul territory as Jensen chased it down and made a full-extension diving catch to end the inning and strand the potential tying run at second base. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Cam Smith’s home run robbery; Ceddanne Rafaela’s full-extension diving catch; Daniel Schneemann’s home run robbery; Nasim Nuñez’s heads-up defense for a double play; Jose Siri’s grand slam robbery; Blake Dunn’s home run robbery; and Jackson Merrill’s home run robbery.