Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending October 2nd. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Miguel batted .565 (13-for-23) with six runs scored, a double, four home runs and 13 RBI over six games. This marks Cabrera's 15th weekly honor (last winning earlier this season on May 22nd), tying him with Barry Bonds for second-most all-time. Since the award's inauguration in the National League (1973) and AL (1974), only Manny Ramirez (16) has accrued more weekly honors. Among AL leaders, Miggy finished the period first in hits, RBI, batting average, slugging percentage (1.130) and on-base percentage (.583); second in home runs and total bases (26); and tied for third in runs scored. Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners also delivered a strong week, hitting .345 (10-for-29) with nine runs scored, three doubles, six home runs and 11 RBI over seven games. The seven-time AL All-Star logged a pair of multihomer games this past week and finished his impressive season with a career-high 39 home runs.
On Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park, Cabrera, a two-time AL MVP (2012-13), went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBI. With the RBI output, Cabrera surpassed the 100-RBI mark in a season for the 12th time in his career and his eighth time with the Tigers, matching Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann for the most 100-RBI seasons in franchise history. His 12 career 100-RBI seasons are tied with Hall of Famer Al Simmons, Ramirez and Bonds for the sixth-most in MLB history. With the homer, the 11-time All-Star belted his 35th home run of the season, marking the fifth time in his career in which he produced 35-or-more round trippers in a season (last: 2013). In Friday night's contest against the Atlanta Braves, Cabrera belted two home runs, marking his 39th career multi-homer game and 30th with the Tigers. His 30 multi-homer games with Detroit trail only Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, who paces the storied franchise with 32 such games. Moreover, the two-homer performance gave him 308 round-trippers for his career with the Tigers, breaking a tie with Greenberg (306) for sole possession of third place in club history. Hall of Famer Al Kaline holds the franchise record with 399 homers in a Tigers uniform, while Norm Cash ranks second with 373 home runs. During a three-game stretch from September 27th-30th, the 2012 Triple Crown winner went 8-for-11 with six runs scored, a double, four home runs and 11 RBI. The Venezuelan native finished his excellent season on a 10-game hitting streak, dating back to September 22nd.
Other noteworthy performances last week included the aforementioned Cano; Miguel's teammates Justin Upton (.300, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .800 SLG) and Justin Verlander (1-1, 0.61 ERA, 14.2 IP, 20 SO); Robinson's teammate Nori Aoki (.455, 10 H, 3 2B, 4 RBI); 2016 MLB home run leader Mark Trumbo (.440, 11 H, 2 2B, 4 RBI) of the Baltimore Orioles; and Aaron Sanchez (2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 16 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Miguel Cabrera will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.