Houston Astros outfielder George Springer has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending June 4th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Springer batted .500 (15-for-30) with 11 runs scored, a double, five home runs and nine RBI over six games to earn his first career AL Player of the Week Award, and the first for an Astros position player since his teammate Carlos Correa took home weekly honors on August 14, 2016. George paced the Majors in hits, runs scored, total bases (31) and slugging percentage (1.033). Among his AL counterparts, the 27-year-old finished the period tied for second in extra-base hits (6); tied for third in batting average; seventh in on-base percentage; and tied for seventh in RBI.
In Wednesday night's away tilt against the Minnesota Twins, Springer went 4-for-4 with four runs scored, a pair of solo home runs and two walks. It was the slugging outfielder's fifth multi-homer game of his career, and second of the season (also May 14th at NY Yankees). In addition, Springer matched a franchise record by safely reaching base in six plate appearances, joining J.R. Towles and Cody Ransom, who both accomplished the feat on September 20, 2007 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In George's final game during his award-winning week, the 11th overall selection of the 2011 MLB Draft (by Houston) tallied three hits, including a pair of homers. The multi-hit output was his sixth in a row, and the dynamic outfielder matched Seattle's Jean Segura (May 3rd-9th), Washington's Ryan Zimmerman (April 26th-May 3rd) and Jose Abreu (April 23rd-30th) of the White Sox for the longest multi-hit streak in the Majors this season. Entering play today, the New Britain, Connecticut native is in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak, dating back to May 26th. During his torrid stretch, Springer slashed .476/.511/.1.000 with 14 runs scored, a double, seven home runs and 13 RBI. Led by Springer's hot bat, the Astros have won each of their last 10 contests and own the best record in Baseball at 41-16.
On Saturday, first baseman Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels became the ninth player in MLB history to reach the 600-home run plateau. At 37 years, 138 days, the 10-time All-Star became the fourth-youngest to join the elite group. Entering play today, Pujols is 141 RBI away from the 2,000 RBI milestone and 125 hits away from the 3,000-hit club. Other noteworthy performances included George's teammate and May's AL Player of the Month presented by Budweiser Carlos Correa (.393, 8 R, 4 HR, 12 RBI); Elvis Andrus (.520, 7 R, 5 XBH, 10 RBI) of the Texas Rangers; Ariel Miranda (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 1 CG, 10 SO) and Mike Zunino (.478, 4 2B, 11 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners;  J.D. Martinez (6 R, 7 XBH, 8 RBI) of the Detroit Tigers; Whit Merrfield (.500, 5 XBH, 5 RBI, .900 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals; and Yonder Alonso (.417, 8 R, 3 HR, .875 SLG) of the Oakland Athletics.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, George Springer will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.