Acuña is NL Player of the Week; Ohtani, Germán share AL honor

Albies, Arcia's stylish flip and throw wins Play of the Week

July 3rd, 2023

There were too many incredible performances last week to fit into just two weekly honors. While was named NL Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and  shared the award in the AL.

For Germán, the reason for inclusion here is a simple one: perfection. On Wednesday, Germán threw a perfect game in an 11-0 win over the Athletics, the 24th such game in AL/NL history and first since Félix Hernández in August 2012. Among the myriad fun facts about the game, these two stand out: He only needed 99 pitches to get it done, and he had allowed a combined 15 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in his prior two starts. The perfect game was Germán’s only start of the week, making him an easy choice for his first career Player of the Week Award.

Speaking of easy choices, MVP front-runners Ohtani and Acuña continued their historic seasons last week, making Player of the Week honors an easy call. Like Germán, Ohtani only had one start on the mound last week, but it was a historic one. On Tuesday, Ohtani allowed one run and had 10 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched, while also hitting two home runs in a 4-2 win over the White Sox. It was just the sixth instance since 1900 of a player throwing 10 strikeouts and hitting multiple home runs in a game, and the first by an AL player since 1963.

Of course, Ohtani’s litany of statistical accomplishments for the week didn’t end there, as he finished the seven-day span with six home runs and a 1.783 OPS, including this career-long 493-foot bomb, the longest homer in MLB this season. This is Ohtani’s second Player of the Week Award of the past month, and the sixth of his career.

Over in the NL, Acuña’s stats closely mirrored Ohtani’s (or, at least, Ohtani’s hitting stats). Despite having one fewer game to do it in, Acuña hit five home runs last week to go with a 1.916 OPS, three steals and a 6-0 team record. This was simply the latest achievement in a remarkable season for Acuña, who became the first player to have 20-plus homers and 35-plus steals before the All-Star break.

The Braves got even more hardware by also earning the Play of the Week Award, thanks to a stylish play from Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia on Tuesday against the Twins. Ever hear of a 4-6-3 “single play?” It’s not something you see every day, but the Atlanta middle infielders showed off both their athleticism and improvisation skills to nab Minnesota’s Max Kepler at first. Everything's coming up roses for the Braves lately, who finished with an incredible 21-4 record in June, and this web gem was yet another example.