Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending August 27^th, his second weekly honor of his red-hot month. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Stanton posted a slash line of .448/.500/1.069 with eight runs scored, 13 hits, three doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI over seven games played to claim his sixth career NL Player of the Week Award, last winning earlier this season for the period ending August 13^th. Among NL leaders, Giancarlo finished the period first in hits, extra-base hits (8) and total bases (31); tied for first in runs scored; second in batting average, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage; and fourth in on-base percentage. This is Miami's fifth Player of the Week Award this season, becoming the first Club in the Majors to do so. Other Marlins to win this season include Stanton's teammates Edinson Volquez, who took home weekly honors for the period ending June 4^th after logging his first career no-hitter; Marcell Ozuna (April 16^th); and J.T. Realmuto (April 9^th).
On Sunday afternoon against the San Diego Padres at Marlins Park, Stanton logged his fourth multi-hit game in a row, batting a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored, one double, a home run and three RBI. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, with the round-tripper, the four-time All-Star became the 28^th different player in Major League history to club 50 homers in a single season. In addition, the 27-year-old slugger became the fastest player to reach the milestone since 2001, doing so in Miami's 129^th game of the 2017 campaign. During Barry Bonds' 73-home run season in 2001, Bonds reached the 50-homer mark in San Francisco's 117^th team game. The only other players in MLB history to reach the 50-homer threshold prior to their team's 130^th contest were Hall of Famer Babe Ruth in 1921 (125), Roger Maris in 1961 (125), Mark McGwire in both 1998 (125) and 1999 (124) and Sammy Sosa in 1999 (121). With four games still remaining in August, the 2016 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Champion, who also participated in front of his home crowd during the 2017 Derby at his ballpark, has already tallied 17 home runs and 35 RBI. Stanton became just the fourth different player since 1913 to reach those totals in a single month, joining Ruth (September 1927), Rudy York (August 1937 and August 1943) and Sosa (June 1998 and August 2001).   With a record of 66-63 entering play today, the Marlins, who won six-of-seven games during Stanton's award-winning week, now trail the Colorado Rockies by just 4.5 games for the second NL Wild Card spot.
Rookie first baseman Rhys Hoskins (.385, 7 R, 6 HR, 15 RBI) of the Philadelphia Phillies also posted an historic week. With his round-tripper yesterday against the Chicago Cubs, Hoskins extended his home run streak to five games and matched the longest streak by a rookie in Major League history. All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers (2015) was the last rookie across Baseball to accomplish the feat. In addition, the homer was his 11^th in his first 18 Major League contests, establishing a new MLB record. Other noteworthy performances last week included starting pitcher Rich Hill, who completed nine no-hit innings on Wednesday night with 10 strikeouts and zero walks, as well as starter Patrick Corbin (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 14 SO) and reliever Fernando Rodney (5 G, 5 SV, 2.08 ERA) of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Giancarlo Stanton will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.