Starting pitcher Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason for the period ending April 15th.
Across two starts, Verlander compiled a 1-0 record while allowing one earned run over 15.0 innings pitched to claim his seventh career AL Player of the Week Award, last winning for the period ending September 30, 2012 as a member of the Detroit Tigers. The 2011 AL MVP tallied 20 strikeouts and issued just two free passes along with five hits in two dominant starts last week. Verlander, a product of Old Dominion University, paced his AL counterparts in innings pitched and strikeouts. Justin is the first Astros hurler to take home weekly honors since Mike Fiers on August 23, 2015.
On April 9th against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, Verlander collected his second win of the season, tossing 7.0 innings of shutout ball with nine strikeouts and just one walk. With the victory, Verlander extended his nine-game regular season winning streak, dating back to his final start as a member of the Tigers on August 20, 2017. The nine-game streak is tied for the longest active winning streak in the Majors, and is matched by Carlos Carrasco of the Cleveland Indians, Josh Fields of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brandon Morrow of the Chicago Cubs. In addition, the six-time All-Star became the second pitcher in Club history to begin his Astros career with a seven-game regular season winning streak, joining Roger Clemens, who went 9-0 in the first 12 starts of his Cy Young Award-winning first season with Houston. In his second start of the week on Sunday night against the Texas Rangers, Verlander hurled a season-best 8.0 innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk, while allowing a single earned run on just one hit - a solo homer. The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year became the first pitcher in franchise history to post such a line, and the first American Leaguer since Danny Duffy of the Kansas City Royals on August 1, 2016. Moreover, the 35-year-old veteran now ranks 39th on the all-time strikeouts list with 2,450 career punchouts. His excellent outing last night at Minute Maid Park propelled him past Jamie Moyer (2,441) and Andy Pettitte (2,448) on MLB's all-time list.
All-Star third baseman Mike Moustakas (.440, 6 R, 5 XBH, 7 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals also posted a strong week. The 29-year-old slugger enters play today in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, dating back to April 8th. The second overall selection in the 2007 MLB Draft homered in consecutive games (April 9th-10th) for the 13th time in his eight-year career, and notched three RBI in two straight contests for the first time. Other noteworthy performances last week included All-Star starting pitcher Corey Kluber (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 13 SO) of the Indians; outfielder Khris Davis (.391, 5 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI) of the Oakland Athletics; and closer Edwin Díaz (3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 6 SO) and third baseman Kyle Seager (.417, 10 H, 5 XBH, 7 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Justin Verlander will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.