JUSTIN VERLANDER OF THE HOSUTON ASTROS NAMED AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET; NOLAN JONES OF THE COLORADO ROCKIES NAMED NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET

Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander has been selected the American L**eague Player of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet, and rookie outfielder Nolan Jones of the Colorado Rockies has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Verlander won his 10^th career selection, last winning on September 3, 2019. Verlander now has four career awards with the Astros and six career awards with the Detroit Tigers. He joins Chas McCormick (July 17^th), Framber Valdez (August 7^th) and Jose Altuve (August 14^th and September 11^th) as the Astros winners this season. Jones earned his first career selection and is the second Rockies player to win this season, joining C.J. Cron, who took home weekly honors on April 3^rd.

Justin Verlander, Houston Astros (@justinverlander)

• The 40-year-old went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA over 13.0 innings pitched in two starts last week. He allowed one run on five hits with four walks and 13 strikeouts, and a .116 opponents’ average.
• The Virginia native tied for the lead among Major League pitchers in wins; ranked second in innings pitched; and tied for third in strikeouts. He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in WHIP (0.69) and opponents’ average.
• The three-time AL Cy Young tossed 8.0 innings on Monday at Seattle, taking a shutout bid into the ninth inning. He allowed just one run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in a must-win game for Houston. The Mariners’ lone run came across to score on a sacrifice fly after Verlander allowed a lead-off double in the ninth inning.
• The 2006 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year tossed 5.0 scoreless innings on Saturday at Arizona, allowing just two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Verlander did not allow a hit until the fourth inning in a game that clinched Houston’s Postseason spot.
• The 2011 AL MVP finished his 18^th season with a 13-8 record and a 3.22 ERA, starting 28 games between the Astros and New York Mets. He pitched 162.1 innings, allowing 58 earned runs with 144 strikeouts and a .226 opponents’ average.

Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies (@nolan_jones10)

• The 25-year-old hit .429 (12-for-28) with two home runs, seven RBI, one double, three walks, four runs scored, three stolen bases, a .484 on-base percentage and a .679 slugging percentage in seven games last week.
• The Pennsylvania native led NL hitters in hits (12); ranked fourth in batting average and on-base percentage; tied for fourth in total bases (19); tied for fifth in RBI; sixth in stolen bases; and seventh in OPS (1.163).
• On Sunday against Minnesota, Jones became 1 of 19 players to reach the 20/20 mark this season, hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning and stealing second base in the ninth inning. He became the first Rockies rookie to reach 20/20 and the 19 different players to reach 20/20 this year tie an MLB record set in 1999.
• Jones recorded multiple hits in four of his seven games, including three hits on Friday against Minnesota. He put together two-hit games in both ends of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Dodgers and added another two-hit day on Saturday against the Twins.
• He finished the year batting .297/.375/.510 with 20 homers, 75 RBI, 27 doubles, four triples, 20 stolen bases, and 70 runs scored.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included starting pitcher George Kirby (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 11 SO) and shortstop J.P. Crawford (.261, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 6 BB, 3 R) of the Seattle Mariners; rookie catcher Austin Wells (.400, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, .950 SLG) and starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 9.0 IP, 5 SO) of the New York Yankees; outfielder/designated hitter Josh Lowe (.500, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, .875 SLG) and rookie infielder/designated hitter Jonathan Aranda (.467, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, .800 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays; infielder Brandon Drury (.333, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 6 R, .792 SLG) and catcher Logan O’Hoppe (.368, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 6 R, .737 SLG) of the Los Angeles Angels; outfielder Myles Straw (.615, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB, .692 SLG, .667 OBP) of the Cleveland Guardians; starting pitcher Kyle Bradish (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 10.0 IP, 9 SO) and catcher Adley Rutschman (.313, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 1 R, .500 SLG) of the Baltimore Orioles; and relief pitcher Bryan Shaw (0.00 ERA, 5 G, 1 SV, 5.0 IP, 0 H, 1 SO) of the Chicago White Sox.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (.391, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1.130 SLG), infielder Ozzie Albies (.440, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 6 R, .720 SLG, .517 OBP) and closer Raisel Iglesias (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 4 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.389, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 7 R, 1 SB, 1.056 SLG, .522 OBP) of the New York Mets; catcher Keibert Ruiz (.455, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, .682 SLG) of the Washington Nationals; infielder Jon Berti (.474, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 6 BB, 4 R, .789 SLG, .615 OBP) of the Miami Marlins; Jones’ rookie teammate Sean Bouchard (.474, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 7 R, 1.211 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Rockies; first baseman Freddie Freeman (.308, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, .731 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 15 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Full-extension diving catch by Dylan Moore of the Seattle Mariners

September 30^th at T-Mobile Park – Watch It Here

Seattle Mariners outfielder Dylan Moore won his first career Play of the Week Award. This marks the third Play of the Week Award overall for the Mariners since the award was introduced in 2019 with Kyle Lewis taking home the award on September 21, 2020 and Jake Fraley winning on June 14, 2021. With the bases loaded for the Rangers and four runs already home in the third inning, Marcus Semien lined a ball to left field that would’ve blown the game open had Moore not made a perfectly timed full-extension diving catch to end the inning. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Zack Short’s long run and catch; Elly De La Cruz’s leaping catch into the stands; Patrick Corbin’s flip to home plate; Jordan Walker’s diving grab; and Mike Yastrzemski’s diving catch.