Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 24th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Rasmus batted .316 (6-for-19) with five runs scored, one double, four home runs, 10 RBI, five walks and a stolen base over six games to claim his second career Player of the Week Award, last winning in the National League with the St. Louis Cardinals on June 6, 2010. Among AL leaders, Colby finished first in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (1.000), tied for second in extra-base hits (5), tied for third in total bases (19), seventh in on-base percentage (.458) and tied for ninth in runs scored.
On Thursday against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park, Rasmus went 2-for-3 with a walk, two home runs and three RBI. It was the ninth multi-home run game of his career and his second of 2016 after also hitting two round-trippers on April 9th at Milwaukee. The 2005 first round pick (28th overall) paces the AL in multi-homer games this season and is tied for the most among Major Leaguers with Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies. In Saturday afternoon's home tilt against the Boston Red Sox, the eight-year veteran went 2-for-4 with his fifth career grand slam and first since May 4, 2014, while playing with the Toronto Blue Jays. Additionally, Rasmus delivered his second-career five-RBI game, previously accomplishing the feat on June 2, 2011 with a career-high six RBI as a member of the Cardinals. In Sunday night's rubber match with Boston, Rasmus delivered in the clutch, launching a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Entering play today, the lefty slugger is tied with Toronto's Josh Donaldson for first in home runs (7), and he ranks second in RBI (19), walks (16), on-base percentage (.389) and slugging percentage (.671). Off the field, Rasmus launched his Hitters for Heroes program, pledging to donate $1,000 for every home run he hits during the 2016 season to support the work of Team Rubicon, a disaster response nonprofit that utilizes the skills of military veterans to provide relief following natural disasters.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Mookie Betts (10 R, 11 H, 2 HR, 22 TB) of the Red Sox; Logan Forsythe (.440, 11 H, 3 2B, 19 TB) and Drew Smyly (1-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 17 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; Hector Santiago (2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 17 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels; Ian Desmond (7 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 SB) of the Rangers; and Salvador Perez (2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .944 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Colby Rasmus will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.