Texas Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 9th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Mazara batted .417 (10-for-24) with six runs scored, a pair of doubles, two home runs and nine RBI over six games to claim his first career Player of the Week Award. Among AL leaders, Nomar finished first in RBI; tied for second in hits; tied for third in batting average; fourth in total bases (18); tied for fourth in runs scored; tied for fifth in slugging percentage (.750) and extra-base hits (4); and seventh in on-base percentage (.462).
In Wednesday night's tilt against the Cleveland Indians at Globe Life Park, Mazara delivered three hits, including his first home run of the season and three RBI. Mazara recorded at least two hits, a run scored and an extra-base hit in each of his first three games of the 2017 campaign. The talented young outfielder became the first Ranger ever to open a season in that prolific fashion. On Friday night against the Oakland Athletics in Arlington, Mazara went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored to go along with his first career grand slam. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native totaled nine RBI through the first four games of 2017, eclipsing the previous franchise mark of eight RBI, set by Juan Gonzalez in his MVP seasons of 1996 and 1998. Mazara, who earned Rookie of the Month honors in consecutive months last season (April and May), became the first AL player with nine-or-more RBI in a team's first four games since Chris Davis accomplished the feat for the Baltimore Orioles (16 RBI) in 2013. Moreover, the 21-year-old's 10 hits in the first four games of the season were second-most in franchise history, trailing only Pete O'Brien, who tallied 11 hits in 1988.
Miguel Sano (.350, 7 R, 5 XBH, 8 RBI) and Ervin Santana (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP) also delivered strong weeks for the Minnesota Twins. Led by their slugger and staff ace, the Twins enter the second week of the 2017 season with the AL's best record (5-1), and second best mark in the Majors behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (6-1). Additionally, George Springer of the Houston Astros became the first player in Major League history to record three leadoff home runs in his club's first seven games of a season. Springer also became the first player in club history to hit a leadoff home run one game after hitting a walk-off round-tripper, accomplishing the feat on Wednesday and Thursday against the Seattle Mariners. Other noteworthy performances included George's teammate Dallas Keuchel (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 8 SO); Khris Davis (.360, 6 R, 5 XBH, 3 HR) and Kendall Graveman (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 13.0 IP) of the Athletics; Alex Colome (3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP) and Steven Souza, Jr. (.417, 10 H, 3 2B, 6 RBI) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and Zach Britton (3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP) of the Orioles.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Nomar Mazara will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.