Yu Darvish, Yordan Alvarez named Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Starting pitcher Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres has been chosen the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and All-Star designated hitter Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Darvish earned his first career Player of the Week Award and is San Diego’s first winner since his teammate Manny Machado in August, and the first Padres pitcher to win since his rotation-mate Joe Musgrove in April 2021 following his no-hitter. Alvarez claimed his second career Player of the Week Award, and his second of the season after winning in June. Alvarez becomes the first Astros position player to take home two weekly awards in the same season since his former teammate Carlos Correa in 2016.

Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres (@darvishsefat11)

• The 36-year-old right-hander was victorious in each of his starts after tossing a combined 14.0 scoreless innings. He posted a 2-0 mark and allowed just three hits and one walk with 15 strikeouts.
• The five-time All-Star led the Padres to a 2-0 win over the Mariners in Seattle on Tuesday, permitting two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over 8.0 innings pitched.
• The Habikino, Japan native closed out his impressive week with 6.0 scoreless innings of one-hit ball in San Diego’s 6-1 win at Arizona on Sunday. Darvish walked one and fanned eight to propel the Padres in front of the Philadelphia Phillies in the standings for the second NL Wild Card.
• The 2020 NL Cy Young Award runner-up is now 15-7 with a 3.05 ERA on the season after 28 starts. He is just one victory shy of matching his career-best for a single season, accomplished during his 2012 rookie season with Texas.

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros (@yordan4342)

• Hit .520 (13-for-25) with 10 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.280 slugging percentage across six games. Led AL hitters in homers, slugging, runs scored and total bases (32); tied for first in RBI and doubles; ranked second in batting average and on-base percentage (.556); and tied for second in hits.
• The 25-year-old slugger hit safely and scored at least one run in all six games during the week, compiling multiple hits in five contests.
• The Las Tunas, Cuba native went 4-for-4 with three solo homers in Houston’s 5-0 win over the visiting A’s on Friday night, matching the Club record for home runs in a game for the second time in his career (also August 2019). He became the third player in franchise history with at least two three-homer games, joining Glenn Davis (two) and Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell (three).
• Has led Houston to a 12-4 mark in September and enters play today in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak, batting .485 (16-for-33) with six home runs and 11 RBI during that stretch.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included shortstop Willy Adames (.444, 5 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RB, 2 SB, .944 SLG) of the Milwaukee Brewers; All-Star starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (1-1, 1.69 ERA, 1 CG, 16.0 IP, 11 SO) of the Miami Marlins; infielder Rodolfo Castro (.273, 5 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, .636 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; closer Daniel Bard (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 6 SO) of the Colorado Rockies; closer Ryan Helsley (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 2 SV, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 6 SO) and infielder Tommy Edman (.320, 1 R, 2 RBI, 4 SB) of the St. Louis Cardinals; and closer Kyle Finnegan (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 2 SV, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 3 SO) of the Washington Nationals.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.550, 9 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 1.250 SLG) of the New York Yankees; shortstop Amed Rosario (.368, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase (0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 4 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians; rookie starting pitcher Joe Ryan (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 14.2 IP, 3 H, 14 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; starting pitcher Framber Valdez (2-0, 1.20 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 15.0 IP, 15 SO) of the Houston Astros, who set a new single-season record with his 25th consecutive quality start on Sunday; shortstop Javier Báez (.500, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .950 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers; and second baseman Marcus Semien (.419, 7 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .806 SLG) of the Texas Rangers.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Impressive diving grab by Riley Greene of the Detroit Tigers
September 13th at Comerica Park – Watch it here

Center fielder Riley Greene of the Detroit Tigers earned his second career Play of the Week Award, and his second of the season, joining Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins (three times) and Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians (twice) as the only players in the Majors to claim multiple honors this season. The play marks the third weekly honor for a Tigers player this season (also Daz Cameron in May), and Detroit joins Minnesota and Cleveland for the most by a single team in 2022. In the top of the seventh inning of a two-run game, Greene ran to deep right-center field to make a terrific diving catch to take away an extra-base hit from Houston’s Alex Bregman. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Mookie Betts’ long run and sliding catch at Arizona; Nick Gordon’s diving stop and double play at Cleveland; Ronald Acuña Jr.’s run-saving diving grab vs. Philadelphia; Nolan Arenado’s run-saving diving stop and throw home vs. Cincinnati; and Baltimore’s triple play at Toronto.