New York's Juan Soto named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Milwaukee's Willy Adames named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet

New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto has been selected the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Soto earned his fourth career Player of the Week Award after previously winning earlier this year on April 1^st, winning once as a member of the San Diego Padres on September 18^th of last year and once as a member of the Washington Nationals on August 17, 2020. Overall, it is the fourth honor for the Yankees this season as Soto joins teammates Anthony Rizzo, who won on April 29^th, and Aaron Judge, who won on May 20^th. Adames claimed his third career honor after previously winning on May 2, 2022 and July 19, 2021. He is the first Brewer to win since Rowdy Tellez won on May 9, 2022.

*Juan Soto, New York Yankees (*@juansoto_25)

• The 25-year-old hit .435 (10-for-23) with three homers, nine RBI, two triples, four walks, seven runs scored, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Dominican Republic native led the Majors in slugging and OPS (1.500); ranked second in total bases (23); ranked third in batting average and RBI; and tied for third in OBP and runs scored.
• The three-time All-Star closed out his week with a two-homer game at San Francisco, marking his third multi-homer game of the year, tied with Yordan Alvarez for the second-most multi-homer games this season behind only Kyle Tucker, who has four such games. Overall, it was Soto’s 20^th career multi-homer game, tied for fourth-most in Baseball with Pete Alonso since his debut in 2018.
• According to Sarah Langs, Soto’s 20 multi-homer games before turning 26 are tied for third-most in Baseball history with Hal Trosky. The only players with more multi-homer games before turning 26 are Hall of Famers Mel Ott (24) and Eddie Mathews (21).
• The 2020 Tony Gwynn NL Batting Champion hit safely in all six of his games last week, registering multiple hits in three of the contests. He has hit safely in each of his last seven games dating back to May 26^th, over which he is batting .423 (11-for-26) with three homers, 10 RBI, a .962 slugging percentage and a 1.462 OPS. The streak is his second-longest of the year behind a 10-game stretch from April 23^rd-May 2^nd.

Willy Adames, Milwaukee Brewers (@willy2802)

• The 28-year-old hit .385 (10-for-26) with two homers, 10 RBI, one double, five walks, seven runs scored, a .654 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage in seven games last week.
• The Dominican Republic native tied for the Major League lead in RBI; ranked second among NL hitters in runs scored; tied for second in walks and total bases (17); ranked third in OPS (1.138); tied for third in hits (10); ranked fourth in OBP; and ranked seventh in batting average.
• Trailing 3-1 on Saturday to the White Sox, Adames ripped a game-tying two-run single in the seventh inning before knocking a walk-off single in the 10^th inning. It was his fifth career walk-off hit and his second with the Brewers, after he last knocked a walk-off single on August 10, 2022. Of his five career walk-offs, four have been singles with the lone exception coming on August 7, 2018, when he lifted a walk-off homer for the Tampa Bay Rays.
• Saturday’s game marked his third three-RBI performance of the week after he also drove home three runs on Monday and Wednesday against the Cubs. He was the only player across Baseball to register three games last week with at least three RBI and his seven such games this season are tied for third-most in MLB with Bryce Harper.
• Adames reached base in all seven of his games and scored a run in six of the seven contests, including five straight games from May 27^th-31^st. It was the fourth time in his career that he scored a run in at least five straight games, falling one game short of his career-high six straight games from April 8-14, 2019.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included third baseman Alex Bregman (.357, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 R, .893 SLG) of the Houston Astros; outfielder Miguel Andujar (.400, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 2B, 6 R, 1 SB, .720 SLG) of the Oakland Athletics; Soto’s Yankee teammate Aaron Judge (.364, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 6 R, 2 SB, .909 SLG), who was named AL Player of the Month for May; starting pitcher Bryce Miller (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 15 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; closer Jhoan Duran (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 3.1 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (.455, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, .818 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Baltimore Orioles; utilityman David Fry (.412, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .824 SLG, .524 OBP) and third baseman José Ramírez (.348, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 3 BB, 8 R, .423 OBP) of the Cleveland Guardians; outfielder Riley Greene (.409, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 4 BB, 6 R, 2 SB, .500 OBP) of the Detroit Tigers; and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (.391, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, .739 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals.

Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included rookie starting pitcher Gavin Stone (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 13 SO) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (.381, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 BB, 4 R, 1 SB, .810 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; third baseman/designated hitter Donovan Solano (.524, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, .545 OBP), infielder/designated hitter Luis Arraez (.391, 4 RBI, 5 R, .400 OBP) and outfielder Jurickson Profar (.381, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 R, .462 OBP) of the San Diego Padres; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.357, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, 2 SB, .607 SLG, .400 OBP) of the New York Mets; outfielder Seiya Suzuki (.333, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 R, 1 SB, .667 SLG, .400 OBP) and starting pitcher Justin Steele (0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 13 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; and starting pitcher Jake Irvin (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 16 SO) of the Washington Nationals.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Diving Stop and Throw to First From His Knees by Javier Báez of the Detroit Tigers

June 1^st at Fenway Park – Watch It Here

Shortstop Javier Báez of the Detroit Tigers earned his second career Play of the Week Award, marking his first in the American League after winning once in the NL (5/31/2021 w/ CHI). He is one of five players to win the Award in both leagues, joining Jackie Bradley Jr., Matt Chapman, Jonathan Davis and Mike Tauchman. Overall, it is the seventh honor for the Tigers and the first since Matt Vierling won last year on April 24^th. In the bottom of the eighth inning with one out, Reese McGuire hit a sharp liner back up the middle, forcing Báez to react quickly to make a diving stop and off-balanced throw from his knees to get the out. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Jose Siri’s home run robbery; George Springer’s diving catch; José Alvarado's nice glove flip; Nolan Gorman and Brandon Crawford’s double play; Dominic Fletcher’s home run robbery; and Cody Bellinger’s home run robbery.