José Ramírez and Nico Hoerner named Players of the Week

Third baseman José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians has been selected the American League Player of the Week, and second baseman Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs has been named the National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Ramírez won his ninth career award after previously winning on July 14, 2025; September 30, 2024; May 31, 2022; April 18, 2022; September 20, 2021; July 16, 2018; September 4, 2017; and June 19, 2017. His nine career honors are fifth-most among active players, trailing only Aaron Judge (15); Shohei Ohtani (11); Freddie Freeman (10); and Justin Verlander (10). Additionally, his nine career awards extended his franchise record and he now accounts for six of the last nine Weekly Awards for Cleveland dating back to 2021. It marks the second award for the Guardians this season following rookie Chase DeLauter’s Opening Weekend honor on March 30^th. Hoerner earned his first career honor and is the first Cubs player to win since Seiya Suzuki on September 29^th of last season. Overall, it marks the fifth award for Chicago since the start of the 2025 season.

José Ramírez , Cleveland Guardians (@ramirez_jose11)

• The 33-year-old hit .364 (8-for-22) with four homers, five RBI, a double, eight walks, nine runs scored, five stolen bases, a .955 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage across seven games.
• The Bani, Dominican Republic native led the Majors in OPS (1.488), on-base percentage and stolen bases; tied for the Major League lead in runs scored; ranked second in slugging; tied for second in walks; tied for third in homers; ranked sixth in total bases (21); and tied for sixth in extra-base hits (5).
• The seven-time All-Star finished his week with a pair of solo homers on Sunday against Baltimore, extending his franchise record with his 28^th career multi-homer game. Additionally, the pair of longballs brought his career home run total to 291, becoming the 11^th player in Major League history to eclipse 290 career home runs and stolen bases. He is seeking to become the ninth player in Major League history with at least 300 career homers and stolen bases, needing nine home runs and three steals to reach the marks.
• Per Elias, Ramírez joined Hall of Famers Craig Biggio (291 HR/414 SB with HOU) and Willie Mays (646 HR/336 SB with NYG/SF) as the third player all-time to record at least 290 career home runs and stolen bases with a single franchise. He is aiming to join Mays as the only players to reach 300 career homers and stolen bases with a single franchise, and Ramírez would be the first player in Major League history to record his first 300 career home runs and stolen bases with one franchise (Mays recorded his first career stolen base with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948).
• The six-time Silver Slugger, who appeared in his 1,620^th career game and set a new franchise record on April 6^th, also homered on Tuesday at St. Louis and Thursday against Baltimore. With a stolen base in Tuesday’s contest, he now has 35 career games with a home run and a stolen base, which are the most in Guardians’ franchise history and are tied for 27^th-most all-time.
• A top-10 AL MVP candidate each of the last six seasons, Ramírez became the first player to reach 10 stolen bases in 2026 with a steal of second base in the first inning on Saturday against Baltimore. He became the ninth player in franchise history to steal 10-or-more bases through the first 22 games of a season, and the first since Kenny Lofton recorded a franchise-record 17 stolen bases through the first 22 games of 1996.

Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs (@nico_hoerner)

• The 28-year-old hit .346 (9-for-26) with two homers, 11 RBI, a walk, four runs scored, two stolen bases, a .577 slugging percentage and a .357 on-base percentage.
• The Oakland, California native tied for the Major League lead in RBI and tied for third among National League hitters in hits; tied for fourth in the NL in stolen bases; and tied for seventh in the NL in total bases (15).
• The 24^th overall pick in the 2018 Draft closed out Chicago’s three-game set in Philadelphia with a career-best five-RBI performance on Wednesday. The game came in the middle of a three-game streak in which Hoerner recorded multiple hits, marking the ninth time in his career that he had multiple hits in at least three consecutive games, and the first time he had multiple hits and RBI in at least three straight contests. Overall, he went 8-for-16 with 10 RBI during the stretch.
• The two-time Gold Glove Award winner became the first Cub with 10 RBI in a three-game span since teammate Carson Kelly from March 31-April 5, 2025 and became the first Cub since 1898 to accomplish the feat while hitting leadoff.
• The Stanford University product capped off his week with a walk-off sacrifice fly on Sunday, helping Chicago extend its winning streak to five games. It marked his fourth career walk-off, joining a walk on July 21, 2024; and singles on May 21, 2024 and April 10, 2023.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included second baseman Jeremiah Jackson (.346, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .846 SLG, .370 OBP) of the Baltimore Orioles; outfielder Mike Trout (.292, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 8 BB, 9 R, .958 SLG, .469 OBP) of the Los Angeles Angels; designated hitter/outfielder Yordan Alvarez (.321, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 4 BB, 7 R, .857 SLG, .406 OBP) of the Houston Astros; catcher Dillon Dingler (.421, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, .895 SLG, .450 OBP) of the Detroit Tigers; Ramírez’s teammate, starting pitcher Gavin Williams (2.25 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 15 SO) of the Guardians; starting pitcher Mick Abel (0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami (.333, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, 6 R, .905 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Chicago White Sox; first baseman Ben Rice (.300, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 7 R, .900 SLG, .423 OBP) of the New York Yankees; and starting pitcher George Kirby (2.03 ERA, 2 GS, 13.1 IP, 14 H, 3 BB, 11 SO) of the Seattle Mariners.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included closer Mason Miller (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 SO) and starting pitcher Michael King (0.82 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 11 SO) of the San Diego Padres; center fielder Michael Harris II (.444, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .778 SLG, .524 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; catcher Liam Hicks (.417, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 SB, .625 SLG, .423 OBP) of the Miami Marlins; designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (.385, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, .692 SLG, .407 OBP) and second baseman Brandon Lowe (.346, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 BB, 5 R, .654 SLG, .414 OBP) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; closer Riley O'Brien (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 2 SV, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; and starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez (1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 14 H, 4 BB, 16 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Play of the Week

Home Run Robbery by Jackson Merrill of the Colorado Rockies

April 15^th at Petco Park – Watch It Here

San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill earned his first career Play of the Week Award, marking the sixth honor for San Diego since the award’s inception in 2019. Other Padres to win the award include Fernando Tatis Jr. (3x: 7/12/2021, 9/25/2023 & 8/25/2025) and Manny Machado (2x: 4/12/2019 & 7/14/2025). With San Diego leading Seattle, 2-0, in the top of the third inning on Jackie Robinson Day, Julio Rodríguez hit a ball to deep center field as Merrill ranged back and made a leaping catch to bring the ball back into the yard. Later in the evening, Merrill capped off the Padres’ 7-6 win with a walk-off two-run double. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Cole Young’s great pick-up after a double deflection; Kyle Isbel’s long run and sliding catch at the wall; Jake Mangum’s outfield assist to throw out the tying run at home; Juan Brito’s run-saving, game-ending diving stop; Steven Kwan’s diving catch to start a double play; and Brandon Lockridge’s leaping catch in foul territory.