Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending August 21st. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
In two starts last week, Ray went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA, allowing just two runs over 12.0 innings of work while leading the Majors with 18 strikeouts. The 24-year-old issued only three walks and allowed nine hits across his two outings to earn his sixth and seventh wins of the 2016 campaign.
On Monday, Ray tossed 5.0 innings of one-run ball in a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets at Chase Field. He fanned five in the start, which was his second consecutive outing facing the Mets after tossing 7.0 shutout innings in a 3-2 victory at Citi Field on August 10th. On Saturday, the southpaw dazzled, striking out a career-best 13 batters over 7.0 innings of one-hit ball en route to a 2-1 victory at San Diego. The 13 strikeouts are the most in a single game by a D-backs pitcher this season. The performance marked the third time since the All-Star break that Ray has established a new career-high in strikeouts after he fanned 10 on July 23rd at Cincinnati and 11 on July 28th at Milwaukee (Elias Sports Bureau). With the pair of wins this week, Ray improved to 7-11 on the season, which is only his second full campaign in the Majors. His 174 strikeouts are currently the sixth-most among NL hurlers. This is his first career weekly award.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Ray's Arizona teammate Yasmany Tomas (.259, 4 HR, 9 RBI, .815 SLG); Colorado's DJ LeMahieu (.583, 9 R, 14 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .958 SLG, .630 OBP); Kris Bryant (.483, 9 R, 14 H, 3 HR, 11 RBI, .828 SLG, .531 OBP) of the Chicago Cubs; and Miami's Fernando Rodney (0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 5 SO, 4.0 IP).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Robbie Ray will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.