Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending July 17th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Shoemaker tossed a complete-game shutout on Saturday en route to his first career AL weekly honor, the first for an Angels pitcher since his teammate Jered Weaver won on May 6, 2012. The 29-year-old paced his league counterparts in innings pitched and strikeouts (13), while matching the AL lead in ERA. Matt permitted just six hits and did not surrender a walk during his first career complete-game shutout.
The Eastern Michigan University product became the sixth AL pitcher since 2000 to log a complete-game shutout with 13-or-more strikeouts and zero walks, joining Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, as well as Erik Bedard, Dan Haren, Hideo Nomo and Mike Mussina. Shoemaker and Haren, who accomplished the feat on May 24, 2012 against the Seattle Mariners, are the only pitchers in franchise history to record a pitching line with those totals. The strikeout total was a career-high for the three-year veteran, besting his mark of 12 punch-outs recorded earlier this season (May 21st vs. BAL), and his outing marked the sixth game this season with zero walks allowed. Earlier this season, the control specialist established a club record with 49 strikeouts without issuing a walk, shattering the previous record of 30 strikeouts set by Frank Tanana in 1976. Shoemaker recorded a streak of four consecutive starts with six-or-more strikeouts and zero walks from May 21st-June 6th, matching the third-longest streak in Major League history. Martinez (2000) and Curt Schilling (2002) each posted streaks of five outings to pace MLB history. In his last six home starts at Angel Stadium, the Michigan native has delivered a 0.80 ERA (45.2 IP, 4 ER). With this start, Shoemaker joined Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, as well as Weaver and Andy Messersmith, as the only starters in club history to log three consecutive home games with zero runs allowed.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Khris Davis (.455, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1.273 SLG) of the Oakland Athletics; Ian Kinsler (.500, 4 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI) and Justin Verlander (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; Jose Altuve (.500, 3 R, 3 RBI, .833 SLG) and Collin McHugh (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Houston Astros; and Mike Napoli (.417, 4 R, 2 HR, .917 SLG) of the Cleveland Indians.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Matt Shoemaker will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.