Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 8th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Cano batted .516 (16-for-31) with eight runs scored, three doubles, four home runs and nine RBI over seven games to claim his seventh career AL Player of the Week Award, most recently as a member of the New York Yankees on July 1, 2012. Robinson paced the Majors in batting average, hits and total bases (31), and finished tied for first in slugging percentage (1.000). Among AL leaders, the left-handed slugger finished tied for first in home runs, RBI and extra-base hits (7), and second in runs scored and on-base percentage (.516).
In an away tilt on Monday night against the Oakland Athletics, the Dominican Republic native went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double. The two-base hit was the 450th of his career and he became the fifth second baseman in Major League history with 2,000 hits, 450 doubles, 200 home runs and 1,000 RBI, joining Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio and Rogers Hornsby, as well as Jeff Kent. On Thursday night against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, the six-time AL All-Star went 3-for-5 with a double and four RBI, giving him 30 RBI through the Mariners' first 28 games this season. The only Mariners player with more RBI through the team's first 28 games of a season is 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Ken Griffey Jr., who delivered 33 in his MVP Award-winning 1997 season. The five-time AL Silver Slugger Award recipient saved his best performance for Saturday's extra-inning affair in Houston. Cano delivered his first four-hit game of the 2016 campaign, including two round-trippers. His second homer in the top of the 10th inning proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the Astros. In his last eight contests, Cano has logged six multi-hit games and has raised his batting average by 79 points to its current .305 (39-for-128) mark. Fueled by the 12-year-veteran's red-hot bat, the M's went 5-2 during his award-winning week and currently lead the AL West with an 18-13 record.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Robinson's teammate Kyle Seager (.433, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 26 TB); Oakland's Josh Reddick (.542, .560 OBP, 13 H, 4 R); Manny Machado (.348, 4 R, 5 2B .826 SLG) of the Baltimore Orioles; Jose Quintana (2-0,1.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; Corey Kluber (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO) of the Cleveland Indians; and Alex Colome (0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 6 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Robinson Cano will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.