Rookie outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. of the Tampa Bay Rays has been named the American League Player of the Week, and center fielder Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres has been selected the National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Mesa earned his first career honor, marking the Rays’ second award of the season after Junior Caminero garnered honors on June 29th. It is the first time a Rays rookie has won the award since Nathaniel Lowe on July 15, 2019 and the first time a Rays outfielder has been honored since Manuel Margot on May 9, 2022. Merrill earned the second award of his career after previously winning on August 12, 2024. It is San Diego’s third award of the season with Merrill joining his teammates Gavin Sheets (May 18th) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (August 24th).
Victor Mesa Jr., Tampa Bay Rays (@victormesajr10)
- The 25-year-old hit .556 (10-for-18) with three homers, six RBI, two doubles, a triple, four walks, two stolen bases, a 1.278 slugging percentage and a .636 on-base percentage across six games.
- The La Habana, Cuba native led the Majors in batting average, slugging and OPS (1.914); ranked second in on-base percentage and total bases (23); tied for second in extra-base hits (6); ranked third in runs scored; and tied for fifth in hits.
- The rookie, who joined Tampa Bay in a February trade from Miami, hit safely in all six games as he has extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games since September 4th. During the streak, he is batting .484 (15-for-31) with three homers, eight RBI, three doubles and a triple. Mesa homered in three straight games from Wednesday through Friday, marking the second time in his career that he hit a home run in three consecutive contests, joining July 18th-20th. Additionally, he recorded an RBI in a career-best five straight games between September 6th-11th.
- After his three-game homer streak, Mesa now has 13 home runs on the season, becoming the ninth Cuban-born outfielder to have at least 10 homers in an age 24-or-younger season (age as of June 30th). Additionally, his 10 homers since July 7th are tied with Yandy Díaz for second-most on the team, trailing only Junior Caminero’s 14 longballs during the stretch. Along with Caminero’s 40 homers this year, it is the ninth time in franchise history that at least two players under the age of 24 have hit at least 10 homers in a season. With two more homers from Mesa, it would mark just the fifth season in franchise history that multiple players reached 15 home runs in an age 24-or-younger season.
- Celebrating his 25th birthday on Tuesday, he tallied a pair of hits, an RBI and a stolen base. He became the fourth Rays player with an extra-base hit, an RBI and a stolen base on his birthday, joining Greg Vaughn (7/3/2001); Randy Winn (6/9/2001); and Gerald Williams (8/10/2000). It marked the 30th time in franchise history that a player tallied multiple hits on his birthday with Mesa’s performance marking the 10th instance of a player recording multiple hits on their age 25-or-younger birthday.
Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres (@_jacksonmerrill_)
- The 23-year-old hit .480 (12-for-25) with three homers, 12 RBI, three doubles, a triple, a walk, a run scored, two stolen bases, a 1.040 slugging percentage and a .481 on-base percentage in six games.
- The Severna Park, Maryland native led the Majors in extra-base hits (7) and total bases (26); tied for the Major League lead in RBI; tied for second in hits; ranked third in slugging; ranked fifth in OPS (1.521); and ranked sixth in batting average.
- The 2024 All-Star hit two home runs and tallied a career-best six RBI as part of a four-hit game on Wednesday against Washington at Petco Park. It marked his fifth career two-homer game and second of the season, joining July 19th at Kansas City. Overall, it was the fifth time in franchise history that a player recorded at least four hits and six RBI in a single game, with Merrill becoming the youngest to achieve the feat, joining Trent Grisham (8/22/2020); Chase Headley (9/2/2012); Brian Giles (5/17/2006); and Ken Caminiti (9/19/1995).
- The 2024 Silver Slugger also recorded three hits on Monday against Washington and three hits on Friday at San Francisco, tallying 10 hits and nine RBI in a four-game span from Monday through Friday. He became the fifth player in franchise history with at least 10 hits, nine RBI and one-or-zero strikeouts across a four-game span, joining Fernando Tatis Jr. (5/19-5/23/2021); Eric Hosmer (6/26-6/30/2019); Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn (7/11-7/14/1997); and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield (5/28-5/30/1979).
- The 27th overall pick of the 2021 Draft launched a solo homer on Saturday at San Francisco as he set a new career high with his 25th blast of the season, surpassing his 24 longballs during his rookie campaign in 2024. He joined Tatis as the only players in Padres history with multiple seasons of at least 20 home runs before turning 24. Additionally, his 25 home runs are fourth-most in franchise history by a player under the age of 24, trailing Tatis (42 HR in 2021); Gary Sheffield (33 HR in 1992); and Franmil Reyes (27 HR in 2019).
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included All-Star starting pitcher Cam Schlittler (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 18 SO) of the New York Yankees; All-Star outfielder Riley Greene (.435, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 R, .826 SLG, .480 OBP) of the Detroit Tigers; first-year MLB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (.368, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 5 BB, 4 R, 1.053 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Toronto Blue Jays; starting pitcher Cal Quantrill (2-0, 3.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 8 SO) of the Texas Rangers; Mesa’s teammate, second baseman Richie Palacios (.400, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 4 R, 3 SB, .800 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Rays; starting pitcher Noah Cameron (0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 11 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; and outfielder Steven Kwan (.385, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .577 SLG, .429 OBP) of the Cleveland Guardians.
Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielder Jackson Chourio (.481, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 9 R, 2 SB, .815 SLG, .517 OBP), All-Star catcher William Contreras (.316, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 4 BB, 6 R, .789 SLG, .417 OBP) and second baseman Brice Turang (.526, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 7 BB, 9 R, .947 SLG, .654 OBP) of the Milwaukee Brewers; starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 9.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 12 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; Merrill’s teammate, Fernando Tatis Jr. (.522, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 3B, 5 BB, 6 R, 4 SB, .739 SLG, .607 OBP) of the Padres; third baseman Nolan Arenado (.421, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 4 R, 1.000 SLG, .577 OBP) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; shortstop Francisco Lindor (.286, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 7 R, .714 SLG, .355 OBP) of the New York Mets; starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan (1-0, 0.77 ERA, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and closer Mason Montgomery (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
Home Run Robbery by Luis Lara of the Milwaukee Brewers
September 11th at American Family Field – Watch It Here
Milwaukee Brewers rookie outfielder Luis Lara earned his second career Play of the Week Award after also winning Milwaukee’s first award of the season on August 10th. It marks the Brewers’ 14th honor since the inception of the award in 2019, marking the second-most in the Majors behind only the Baltimore Orioles’ 16 awards. Other Brewers to win include Lorenzo Cain (3x – 3/28/2019, 4/26/2019, 7/22/2019); Jackie Bradley Jr. (5/17/2021); Luis Urías (2x – 6/7/2021 & 7/19/2021); Jonathan Davis (7/5/2022); Sal Frelick (4x – 9/11/2023, 5/20/2024, 6/24/2024 & 9/16/2024); and Jackson Chourio (5/19/2025). With no outs in the fifth inning and Milwaukee leading Cincinnati, 9-0, Eugenio Suárez hit a ball to the right-center gap as Lara chased the ball down and made an incredible leaping catch at the wall to take the home run away. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Elly De La Cruz’s strong throw to the plate; Logan Gilbert’s nice tag at home plate after a wild pitch; Michael McGreevy’s barehanded play; Carson Benge’s diving catch; Jordan Lawlar’s diving catch; and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s diving stop and throw to first.