Trevor Story, Lucas Giolito named W.B. Mason Players of the Week

Shortstop Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week, and starting pitcher Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox has been named the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Story earned his fourth career NL Player of the Week Award, most recently accomplishing the feat for the period ending July 15, 2018. Story is the second consecutive Rockies player to earn NL weekly honors, following his teammate Nolan Arenado last week. Giolito claimed his first career AL Player of the Week Award and is the first White Sox player since José Abreu for the week ending May 28, 2017. Additionally, Giolito is the first White Sox hurler to be awarded weekly honors since Philip Humber on April 23, 2012.

In recognition of their Player of the Week Awards, Trevor Story and Lucas Giolito will each be awarded a specially engraved watch courtesy of Artinian.

Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies (@trevv4)

• Posted a slash line of .524/.583/1.048 with nine runs scored, 11 hits, three doubles, a triple, two home runs, seven RBI and three walks across six games played.
• Among qualified NL leaders, finished first in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage; tied for first in runs scored and total bases (22); and second in extra-base hits (6).
• Recorded a career-best seven RBI to go along with a pair of home runs on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays. Joined Arenado (July 19, 2017) as the only players in franchise history to produce a game with three hits, two homers, seven RBI and four runs scored.
• Enters play today as one of two players in the Majors with at least 15 home runs and 10 stolen bases on the season, and is joined by reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers (22 HR, 12 SB).

Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox (@lgio27)

• Recorded a win in both of his starts, posting a 1.76 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 15.1 innings pitched. Permitted just eight hits, a home run and one walk.
• The AL Pitcher of the Month earned his eighth win of the season yesterday against the Cleveland Indians, and will enter his next start on a career-high seven-game winning streak. Marks the longest streak by a White Sox hurler since Chris Sale won his first nine starts of the 2016 campaign en route to starting the Midsummer Classic.
• In yesterday’s outing, became the first pitcher since Miguel González in 2017 to post a start in which he tossed at least 7.0 innings with nine-or-more strikeouts while not permitting a free pass.
• In the first start of his award-winning week, tallied a season-best 10 punchouts across 8.0 innings of work to guide the White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Was the second-straight start in which he pitched at least 8.0 innings.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included Trevor’s teammate David Dahl (.464, 7 R, 13 H, 5 XBH); All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper (.417, 5 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI) of the Philadelphia Phillies; All-Star starting pitcher Max Scherzer (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 21 SO) of the Washington Nationals; second baseman/outfielder Derek Dietrich (.409, 4 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI) of the Cincinnati Reds; starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (1-1, 2.57 ERA, 14.0 IP, 18 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; outfielder Max Muncy (.385, 7 R, 10 H, 5 XBH) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and starting pitcher Trevor Richards (2-0, 0.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 3 H, 13 SO) of the Miami Marlins.

Other noteworthy AL performances were All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.462, 10 R, 4 2B, 3 HR) of the Boston Red Sox; outfielder Austin Meadows (.419, 8 R, 13 H, 10 RBI) of the Tampa Bay Rays; outfielder Nomar Mazara (.414, 8 R, 12 H, 6 RBI) of the Texas Rangers; and Giolito’s teammate Alex Colomé (4 G, 1-0, 3 SV, 4 SO).

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Diving Catch by Jonathan Davis of the Toronto Blue Jays

May 29th at TB – Watch It Here

Outfielder Jonathan Davis of the Toronto Blue Jays earned his first career Play of the Week honor. In the bottom of the first inning during Wednesday night’s game at Tropicana Field, the 27-year-old ranged back to deep left-center field before making a fully-extended diving catch at the warning track. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Joey Votto’s barehanded snag at first base; Byron Buxton’s amazing catch in center field before also doubling up the runner at first; Mitch Haniger’s superb diving catch in right-center field; Kevin Kiermaier’s leaping catch at the left-center field wall to take away an extra-base hit; Yoán Moncada’s diving stop at third base before throwing out the runner at first; and Kolten Wong’s leaping catch in shallow right field that preserved a 1-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the top of the eighth inning.