Xander Bogaerts, Zac Gallen Named Players of the Week Presented by Chevrolet

All-Star shortsop Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox has been chosen the American League Player of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet, and starting pitcher **Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Bogaerts earned his second career Player of the Week Award, previously winning in July 2018, and is Boston’s second winner this season, following his double-play partner Trevor Story in May. Gallen claimed his first career Player of the Week Award and is similarly Arizona’s second winner this season, following his rotation-mate Merrill Kelly in August.

Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox (@thexman2)

• Posted a .536/.581/.821 slash line with eight runs scored, a Major League-best 15 hits and 23 total bases, five doubles, a home run, nine RBI and one stolen base over seven games played.
• The four-time All-Star recorded a season-high five RBI to lead Boston to a 6-5 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, which included a grand slam in the third inning. At 113.0 mph, the slam was his hardest hit home run in the Statcast era (since 2015).
• The two-time World Series Champion enters play today having recorded a multi-hit effort in nine consecutive games dating back to August 28th, which is tied for the longest such streak in franchise history with Kevin Youkilis (2007), Hall of Famer Jim Rice (1978) and Roy Johnson (1934).
• Following his recent offensive surge, the Aruba native is currently leading the AL batting title race with a .317 (153-for-482) batting average on the season.

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks (@zac_gallen)

• Delivered two scoreless starts for Arizona, earning the win in each decision while tallying 14 strikeouts and permitting just two walks and four hits across 14.0 innings.
• The 27-year-old has pitched at least six scoreless frames without allowing more than four hits in each of his last six outings dating back to August 8th, which is tied with Zack Greinke (2015) for the longest such streak in MLB history.
• Zac’s scoreless streak is now at 41.1 innings, which is the second-longest such stretch in franchise history behind only Brandon Webb’s 42.0-inning streak in 2007. It is also the longest scoreless streak by a Major League hurler since Greinke’s 45.2-inning streak during his aforementioned 2015 season. Orel Hershiser holds the MLB record with a 59.0-inning scoreless streak during his Cy Young Award-winning 1988 campaign.
• Enters action today as one of five Major Leaguers this year with an ERA of 2.50-or-better; 150-or-more strikeouts; and 40-or-fewer walks. Is joined by Justin Verlander, Alek Manoah, Shane McClanahan and Max Scherzer.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included Xander’s teammate Trevor Story (.480, 12 H, 4 2B, 4 RBI); starting pitcher Dylan Cease (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 1 H) of the Chicago White Sox, who came within one out of tossing a no-hitter on Saturday against Minnesota; All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.450, 6 R, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the New York Yankees; backstop Cal Raleigh (.333, 6 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI) and All-Star first baseman Ty France (.346, 5 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners; and All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve (.476, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI) of the Houston Astros.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson (.471, 6 R, 3 HR, 13 RBI) of the San Francisco Giants; infielder Tommy Edman (.440, 5 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI) of the St. Louis Cardinals; All-Star third baseman Austin Riley (.304, 5 R, 4 HR, 5 RBI) and rookie starting pitcher Spencer Strider (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 SO, 0 BB) of the Atlanta Braves; infielder Luis García (.385, 10 H, 3 2B, 2 HR) of the Washington Nationals; and rookie outfielder Jake McCarthy (6 H, 3 HR, 11 RBI) of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Home Run-Robbing Catch by Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets

August 31st at Citi Field – Watch It Here

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets earned his first career Play of the Week Award and is the Mets’ first winner since his former teammate Michael Conforto in August 2021. In the top of the seventh inning of a one-run game, Nimmo tracked a would-be home run by Justin Turner to make a leaping grab at the outfield wall to preserve the Mets’ lead. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Jon Berti’s leaping catch at third base; Sean Bouchard’s sliding catch in foul territory; Oneil Cruz’s backhanded play and throw across his body from the hole at shortstop; and Tommy Edman’s diving stop at short and his throw across the diamond.