Outfielder/first baseman Jay Bruce, in his debut week as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week, and shortstop Marcus Semien of the Oakland Athletics has been named the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Bruce earned his sixth career NL Player of the Week Award, and his first since the week ending September 9, 2012 while still a member of the Cincinnati Reds. Jay is the first Philadelphia player to earn weekly honors since Cole Hamels on July 26, 2015, and is the first Phillies player since Paul Byrd (August 23, 1998) to accomplish the feat following his first week with his new Club. Semien earned his first career AL Player of the Week Award and is the second A’s player this season to accomplish the feat, joining his teammate Mike Fiers, who won following his no-hitter for the peiod ending May 13th. Oakland joins the Minnesota Twins as the only AL Clubs to have two Player of the Week winners thus far in 2019 (Max Kepler & Jake Odorizzi).

In recognition of their Player of the Week Awards, Jay Bruce and Marcus Semien will each be awarded a specially engraved watch courtesy of Artinian.

Jay Bruce, Philadelphia Phillies

• Batted .381 (8-for-21) with six runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.048 slugging percentage across his first six games played with the Phillies.
• Among NL leaders, finished the week first in RBI, total bases (22) and slugging percentage; tied for first in extra-base hits (6), runs scored and home runs; and seventh in batting average.
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, became the third player with at least four home runs and 11 RBI through his first five games with a Club since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, joining Reggie Sanders (Pittsburgh, 2003) and Trevor Story (Colorado, 2016).
• Clubbed his fourth home run on Friday in just his fourth game with Philadelphia. Became the first Phillies player in the modern era to log four home runs in his first four games with the team.
• Homered in three straight games (Tuesday-Friday) for the 14th time in his career.

Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics

• Hit .419 (13-for-31) with seven runs scored, a pair of doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and three walks over seven games played.
• Tied for first in hits and RBI; tied for second in total bases (21); tied for third in runs scored; ranked fifth in batting average; and tied for sixth in extra-base hits (4) among his AL counterparts.
• On Friday, batted 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two round-trippers and four RBI to propel the A’s to a 5-3 victory against the Texas Rangers. Became the first Oakland player since Brandon Moss on August 28, 2013 to reach those totals in a single contest.
• Is the only player on the Athletics to have played in every game this season, and has played in 147 consecutive contests dating back to June 28, 2018.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included starting pitcher Walker Buehler (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 20 SO) and All-Star Corey Seager (.462, 12 H, 5 2B, 9 RBI) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; reigning 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich (.600, 12 H, 2 SB, 1.000 SLG) of the Milwaukee Brewers; starting pitcher Pablo López (1-0, 0.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 14 SO) of the Miami Marlins; All-Star shortstop Javier Báez (.310, 5 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI), starter Kyle Hendricks (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 14.0 IP, 13 SO) and outfielder Kyle Schwarber (.417, 6 R, 5 XBH, 6 RBI) of the Chicago Cubs; starter Jason Vargas (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG SHO, 8 SO) of the New York Mets; and Jay’s teammate Nick Pivetta (1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1 CG, 6 SO).

Other noteworthy AL performances were infielder Tommy La Stella (.393, 7 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnación (8 R, 7 H, 5 HR, 9 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners; All-Star closer Brad Hand (4 G, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 5 SO) of the Cleveland Indians; All-Star starting pitcher Chris Sale (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG SHO, 12 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera (.440, 5 R, 4 XBH, 7 RBI) and starter Adrian Sampson (1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1 CG, 7 SO) of the Rangers; All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor (.333, 7 R, 6 XBH, 4 RBI) of the Cleveland Indians; pitchers Gerrit Cole (7.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 14 SO, 0 BB) and Framber Valdez (1-0, 0.82 ERA, 11.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Houston Astros; and a trio of backstops – Travis d’Arnaud (.545, 4 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI) of the Tampa Bay Rays; Tom Murphy (.308, 4 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI) of the Mariners; and Roberto Pérez (.357, 4 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI) of the Indians.

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Home-Run Robbing Catch by Anthony Santander of the Baltimore Orioles

June 8th at HOU – Watch It Here

Outfielder Anthony Santander of the Baltimore Orioles earned his first career Play of the Week honor. In the bottom of the sixth inning during Saturday night’s game at Minute Maid Park, Santander ranged back to make a home-run saving catch and then fired to first base to double-up Michael Brantley and end the inning. Propelled by Anthony’s heroics, the Orioles held on for the 4-1 victory. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Xander Bogaerts’ diving stop up the middle before making the throw to first; Hunter Pence’s climbing catch at the outfield wall to rob an extra-base hit; Ozzie Albies’ backhanded snag up the middle before making a leaping throw to get the runner at first; Francisco Lindor’s diving stop at shortstop before firing across the diamond to nail his close friend and former teammate, Gio Urshela; Jesse Winker’s sliding catch in foul territory before crashing into the left-field wall; and Tim Locastro’s leaping catch at the wall to rob Cavan Biggio of an extra-base hit.