Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason for the period ending August 12th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Zimmerman batted .476 (10-for-21) with four runs scored, three doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI and four walks across seven games played to claim his fifth career NL Player of the Week Award, last winning for the period ending April 30, 2017. Among his NL counterparts, Ryan finished the period first in RBI and slugging percentage (1.048); tied for first in extra-base hits (6); second in batting average, on-base percentage (.538) and total bases (22); tied for third in home runs; tied for fourth in hits; and tied for seventh in doubles. This is Washington's fourth weekly award of the 2018 season, following Ryan's teammates Adam Eaton (April 2nd), Max Scherzer (April 15th) and Mark Reynolds (July 9th).
In Washington's doubleheader on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, Zimmerman tallied six hits across both games as the Nationals split the twinbill with Atlanta. In the afternoon contest, the University of Virginia product batted 3-for-5 with a run scored, two doubles, a home run and three RBI to propel Washington to an 8-3 victory. Zimmerman became the third National this season to reach those totals in a single game, joining Anthony Rendon (June 29th) and Eaton (March 31st). In Saturday afternoon's tilt against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, the fourth overall selection in the 2005 MLB Draft posted his second multi-homer game of the season (also April 28th) and the 25th of his career. Additionally, Zimmerman matched his career high with six RBI, and became the fourth different Nats player in 2018 to club a pair of homers with at least six RBI in a contest, joining Daniel Murphy (July 31st), Reynolds (July 7th) and Trea Turner (July 5th). The 33-year-old veteran capped off his strong period at the plate with his third multi-RBI performance of the week on Sunday night against the Cubs. Since July 24th, Zimmerman is slashing .386/.462/.795 with six runs scored, 17 hits, six doubles, four home runs and 18 RBI.
Other noteworthy performances last week included All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (.357, 10 H, 6 XBH, 4 RBI) and outfielder David Peralta (.444, 8 R, 12 H, 4 HR, 6 RBI) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; All-Stars Jesús Aguilar (.350, 3 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and Lorenzo Cain (.414, 6 R, 12 H, 2 SB) of the Milwaukee Brewers; All-Star outfielder Nick Markakis (.444, 6 R, 6 XBH, 8 RBI) of the Atlanta Braves; and Zimmerman's teammate Scherzer (14.0 IP, 17 SO, 2 BB, 7 H).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Ryan Zimmerman will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.