Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets named National League Player of the Week

Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets has been named National League Player of the Week for the week of September 7th-13th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

In seven games last week, Cespedes led the Majors with 12 RBI and 26 total bases, while tying for the Major League lead with four home runs. The 29-year-old posted an NL-best .897 slugging percentage and was tied for third among NL hitters with 10 hits. Cespedes hit .345 (10-for-29) for the week, helping the NL East-leading Mets to a perfect 7-0 record. On Sunday, the Campechuela, Cuba native clubbed his 34th homer of the season and collected two RBI in a 6-4 victory at Atlanta. Cespedes' career-high 102 RBI are currently fourth-most in the Majors this season. He is the first Cuban-born player to post back-to-back 100-RBI seasons since Rafael Palmeiro (Havana, Cuba) accomplished the feat in 2002-03. In Friday's matchup between the two clubs, Cespedes went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI en route to a 5-1 win. The multi-hit performance was his 54th of the season, which trails only his former Detroit teammate Ian Kinsler (55) for the Major League lead. Cespedes began the week by leading his club to a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals from September 7th-9th. The All-Star slugger went 6-for-14 off Nats' pitchers with two home runs, three doubles and seven RBI in the three-game set. His bases-clearing double in the seventh inning of Tuesday's contest drove in three runs and helped the Mets overcome a 7-1 deficit in an eventual 8-7 victory. On Wednesday, Yoenis connected on a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie, guiding New York to a 5-3 win and a series sweep. With the stellar week, Cespedes now has 16 homers and 41 RBI in his first 40 games with the Mets after being traded from Detroit in July. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is just the second player since 1920 to record 15-or-more home runs and 40-or-more RBI within his first 40 games with a new club, joining Hank Sauer, who hit 15 homers with 47 RBI in his first 40 games with the Chicago Cubs in 1949 after being dealt by the Cincinnati Reds. This is the second career weekly honor for Cespedes, who was named AL Player of the Week, July 9-15, 2012 as a member of the Oakland Athletics. It also marks the second consecutive weekly award for a Met, following last week's winner, Bartolo Colon.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Milwaukee's Ryan Braun (.393, 5 R, 11 H, 4 RBI, .433 OBP); Corey Seager (.474, 6 R, 9 H, HR, 4 RBI, .789 SLG) and Zack Greinke (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 13 SO, 14.0 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Atlanta's Andrelton Simmons (.429, 12 H, 4 RBI, .414 OBP); Colorado's John Axford (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 8 SO, 4.0 IP); Cincinnati's Anthony DeSclafani (2- 0, 1.35 ERA, 16 SO, 13.1 IP); Cespedes' Mets teammate Jeurys Familia (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 SO, 5.0 IP); and Miami's A.J. Ramos (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 SO, 4.1 IP).

In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Yoenis Cespedes will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.