Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Steven Souza Jr. has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 23rd. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Souza hit .414 (12-for-29) with five runs scored, a pair of doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBI over seven games. Among his AL counterparts, Steven finished first in total bases (22); tied for first in hits, RBI and extra-base hits (5); fifth in batting average; and sixth in slugging percentage (.759). This is Souza's first career Player of the Week Award.
The 28-year-old outfielder enters play today on a seven-game hitting streak, having recorded four multi-hit contests during his award-winning week. On Thursday against the Detroit Tigers at Tropicana Field, Souza finished the game a single shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored to go along with a double, triple and solo home run. It was only the fifth time in franchise history that a player has posted that line, and the first since Sam Fuld accomplished the feat on April 11, 2011 against the Boston Red Sox. The former third round pick in the 2007 MLB Draft (by Washington) logged his second three-hit game of the 2017 campaign, last reaching the mark on April 6th. In yesterday's extra-inning loss to the Houston Astros, Souza recorded his fourth home run of the season, a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the Rays a 3-0 lead. Propelled by his hot start with the bat, the Everett, Washington native is tied for the AL lead in both hits (26) and RBI (17).
Ryon Healy (.524, .857 SLG, .565 OBP, 4 2B) of the Oakland A's logged 11 hits during his impressive week, recording four multi-hit games and plating six runs. During Oakland's five game winning streak from April 18th-22nd, Healy notched a couple of doubles and a home run, while going 8-for-16 (.500) at the plate to lead the A's. Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians delivered the fourth complete-game shutout of his career on Friday against the Minnesota Twins, logging nine strikeouts. Kluber's gem was the third complete-game shutout this season (also Colorado's Tyler Chatwood and Minnesota's Ervin Santana), but featured the highest number of strikeouts. Coming within an inning of a complete-game shutout, Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox tallied 13 strikeouts over 8.0 innings pitched, while permitting just four hits in his masterful performance against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Other noteworthy performances included Mike Trout (.429, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 SB) of the Los Angeles Angels, Boston's Mookie Betts (.321, 4 XBH, 9 RBI, 3 SB) and Nelson Cruz (.364, 6 R, 3 2B, 7 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Steven Souza Jr. will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.