Miami Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending April 16th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Ozuna batted .435 (10-for-23) with four runs scored, a double, four home runs and 12 RBI over six games to claim his first career Player of the Week Award. This is the Marlins' second consecutive weekly award, following Marcell's teammate J.T. Realmuto, who earned the first NL Player of the Week Award in 2017. Among NL leaders, Ozuna finished the period first in RBI; tied for second in slugging percentage (1.000); third in batting average and total bases (23); tied for third in home runs and hits; and tied for seventh in on-base percentage (.481).
On Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park, Ozuna went 2-for-2 with a pair of home runs and six RBI in Miami's 8-4 win over their NL East rival. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native became just the ninth player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to plate at least six runs with two-or-fewer at-bats in a single game, and the first to accomplish the feat in 17 years, when Bret Boone of the San Diego Padres tallied six RBI in two at-bats against the Houston Astros on June 10, 2000. The two-homer output was the second of his career (also June 20, 2016 vs. Colorado), and Marcell became the 17th player this season to record a multi-home run game. In Thursday night's extra-inning thriller against the New York Mets, the 26-year-old slugger connected for his third career grand slam, and first since August 22, 2014 against the Colorado Rockies. With a career-high six RBI game two nights before, the 2016 NL All-Star recorded 10 RBI in a three game span. Ozuna concluded his award-winning week with a three-hit effort in Sunday's afternoon tilt against the Mets, collecting his Major League-leading 18th RBI. Led by Ozuna's hot start at the plate, the Marlins have posted a 7-5 record through their first 12 games, and are tied with the Washington Nationals for first in the NL East.
Eric Thames of the Milwaukee Brewers, who spent the previous three seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, also posted an impressive week, collecting six extra-base hits and eight RBI. Entering play today, Thames has homered in each of his last four games, and has become just the eighth player in franchise history to hit safely in each of his first 10 starts in a season. Moreover, on Tuesday night, New York's Yoenis Céspedes (.308, 2 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI) became the first Met in club history to record his second three-home run game (also August 21, 2015 at Colorado), also tying the franchise record with four extra-base hits in a single game. Other noteworthy performances included San Diego's Wil Myers (.455, 3 2B, 2 3B, .909 SLG), who hit for the cycle on Monday; Yoenis' Mets teammate Travis d'Arnaud (.381, 6 R, 4 XBH, 7 RBI);
Washington's Bryce Harper (.391, 7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI); and Eugenio Suárez (.385, 7 R, 5 XBH, 8 RBI) of the Cincinnati Reds.
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Marcell Ozuna will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.