Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals named National League Co-Players of the Week

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and pitcher Stephen Strasburg have been named National League Co-Players of the Week for the week of September 14th-20th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

In seven games last week, Harper led the Majors with five home runs, 10 RBI, 12 runs scored, 14 hits and 30 total bases. The 22-year-old led the NL with a .519 average (14-for-27) last week, while also posting the League's highest on-base percentage (.576). His 1.111 slugging percentage ranked second among NL hitters and his five walks were tied for fourth in the Senior Circuit. Harper's hot bat helped the Nationals win six of their seven games last week, including a four-game weekend sweep of the Miami Marlins. On Sunday, the All-Star slugger collected three hits in a 13-3 victory, bringing his Major League-leading batting average to .343 on the season. In Saturday's matchup between the two clubs, Harper collected three RBI and blasted his NL-leading 41st home run of the season in a 5-2 victory at Nationals Park. On Tuesday, his four-RBI performance was all the offense that the Nationals would need in a 4-0 victory at Philadelphia. Harper was 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs in the contest, which was his fifth multi-home run game of the season and the 10th of his young career. In doing so, he joined Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews (13) and Mel Ott (10), as well as Bob Horner (10) as the only players in MLB history to have tallied 10-or-more multi-homer games in their career prior to their 23rd birthday. This is the third weekly award of Harper's career, having won twice previously this year (May 4th-10th and 11th-17th). In two starts last week, Strasburg posted a perfect 2-0 record while fanning a Major League-best 24 across 15.0 innings of work (T-1st, MLB). His 0.60 ERA (1 ER/15.0 IP) ranked sixth among qualifying NL pitchers last week and was the lowest among those with more than 8.0 innings of work. He allowed just seven hits last week while issuing only two walks. Strasburg capped his week by earning his 10th win of the season with 7.0 innings of work in Washington's 13-3 win over the Marlins on Sunday. He fanned 10 in the effort, marking his third consecutive double-digit strikeout outing. On Tuesday, the hard-throwing righty stifled the Phillies, allowing just one hit across 8.0 shutout innings while matching a career high with 14 strikeouts. The 8.0-inning start marked a season-high for the San Diego State University product. This marks Strasburg's second career weekly citation, having been named previously June 7-13, 2010, which marked the week of his Major League debut.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Harper and Strasburg's Washington teammate Jayson Werth (.308, 8 H, 4 HR, 9 RBI, .846 SLG, .438 OBP); Miami's Dee Gordon (.433, 13 H, 5 RBI, 6 R, 3 SB, .424 OBP) and Christian Yelich (.387, 6 R, 12 H, HR, 6 RBI); Arizona's A.J. Pollock (.478, 11 H, 5 R, HR, 2 SB, .538 OBP); San Francisco's Tim Hudson (1-0, 0.87 ERA, 4 SO, 10.0 IP); and San Diego's James Shields (2-0, 3.29 ERA, 14 SO, 13.2 IP).

In recognition of their National League Player of the Week Awards, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg will each be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.