Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox and Prince Fielder of the Texas Rangers named the American League Co-Players of the Week

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and Texas Rangers designated hitter Prince Fielder have been named the American League Co-Players of the Week for the period ending September 20th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Abreu batted .458 (11-for-24) with three runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI over six games, while Fielder hit .308 (8-for-26) with nine runs scored, three home runs and nine RBI over seven contests. This marks Abreu's third career weekly honor, last winning on August 2nd of this season, and Fielder's sixth, last accomplishing the feat with the Detroit Tigers on April 14, 2013. Among AL leaders, Jose finished the week tied for first in RBI, third in on-base percentage (.552), tied for third in hits, fourth in batting average and slugging percentage (.792), and tied for fourth in total bases (19). Prince completed the period first in runs scored, tied for first in RBI and tied for third in home runs and walks (6).

Entering play today, Abreu, a Cienfuegos, Cuba native, is on pace for 32 home runs and 104 RBI. He would join Albert Pujols (2001-02) as the only players in MLB history to register 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI in his first two MLB seasons. The 2014 AL All-Star is the first player in White Sox history to record 25 homers and 30 doubles in each of his first two campaigns. His 65 home runs are the second-most by a White Sox player over his first two full seasons (Ron Kittle, 67 in 1983-84), and his 202 RBI are tied with Zeke Bonura (1934-35) for the record. On Monday night against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Fielder, the seventh overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft, delivered a two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Rangers a 5-3 victory over their instate rival. It was his 18th career go-ahead home run in the eighth inning-or-later, and the first since September 30, 2012 as a member of the Tigers. On Wednesday night against the Astros, the six-time All-Star posted his 27th career multi-homer game and a season-high five RBI in a decisive 14-3 win over Houston. Led by their star slugger, Texas has won seven of its last 10 and now sits atop the AL West by a 1.5-game margin.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Abreu's teammate Melky Cabrera (.379, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI); Kris Medlen (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 11.1 IP) and Kendrys Morales (.300, 7 R, 4 HR, 4 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals; Tyler Duffey (2-0, 0.68 ERA, 13.1 IP, 14 SO) and Eddie Rosario (.360, 5 R, 3 3B, 2 HR) of the Minnesota Twins; and Francisco Lindor (.393, 5 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI) of the Cleveland Indians.

In recognition of their American League Co-Players of the Week Awards, Jose Abreu and Prince Fielder will each be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.