Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies named National League Player of the Week

Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado has been named National League Player of the Week for the
week ending August 24th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Arenado led the Majors with a 1.045 slugging percentage and paced the N.L. with a .545 batting average (12-for-22), a .600 on-base percentage, 12 hits and 23 total bases. The 23-year-old clubbed three home runs and added three RBI last week while posting three doubles and a triple. He also scored six runs.

Arenado opened the week with a three-hit effort in Tuesday's Interleague matchup with the A.L. Central-leading Kansas City Royals. The multi-hit performance included a solo shot in the fifth inning, which gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead in an eventual 7-4 loss. In Wednesday's contest, Arenado tripled and scored twice, helping the Rockies earn a split of the two-game series at Coors Field with a 5-2 victory over the Royals. On Friday, the Newport Beach, California native tied a career high (four times) with a four-hit performance in the opening game of a three-game set against the Miami Marlins. Arenado reached base five times in the contest, also drawing a walk to go with his four hits, marking his second such performance this month (also: August 17th vs. CIN). The youngster continued his hot hitting with a two-hit game in Saturday's outing, capping the day with a leadoff double in the 13th inning before coming around to score the game-winning run on Corey Dickerson's walk-off single. Arenado helped the Rockies to a 7-4 win in Sunday's rubber-match between the two clubs, notching his third consecutive multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 effort, which included his 14th homer of the season. The two-run first-inning blast gave Arenado 52 runs batted in on the season, tying his total from last year's rookie campaign. The Rockies second round selection in the 2009 Draft currently has 47 extra-base hits on the season, which ranks second among N.L. third basemen. This is the first career weekly award for Arenado, the reigning N.L. Gold Glove Award winner at third base.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Lucas Duda (.348, 8 H, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 1.000 SLG, .385 OBP) of the New York Mets; Atlanta's Jason Heyward (.407, 6 R, 11 H, HR, 7 RBI, .452 OBP) and Justin Upton (.333, 10 H, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .600 SLG); Miami's Marcell Ozuna (.478, 11 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .957 SLG, .480 OBP); Washington's Jayson Werth (.423, 5 R, 11 H, HR, 7 RBI, .615 SLG, .484 OBP); Milwaukee's Mike Fiers (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 13 SO, 14.0 IP); and Hector Rondon (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 4 SO, 4.0 IP) of the Chicago Cubs.

In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Nolan Arenado will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.