José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet

San Diego Padres Claim Play of the Week with Game-Ending, Postseason-Clinching Triple Play

September 30th, 2024

Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani has been selected the National League Player of the Wee**k presented by Chevrolet**. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Ramírez claimed his seventh career award and his first since winning on May 31, 2022 (also: 4/18/2022; 9/20/2021; 7/16/2018; 9/4/2017; and 6/19/2017). It is the second award for a Guardians player this season after his teammate Josh Naylor won on June 24th. Ohtani earned his 11th career honor, becoming one of 15 players with at least 11 career awards after he previously won three times this season with the Dodgers (9/23, 6/24 and 5/6) and won seven times as a member of the Los Angeles Angels (7/30/2023; 7/3/2023; 6/20/2023; 7/6/2021; 6/21/2021; 9/10/2018; and 4/9/2018). Overall, it is the sixth award for the Dodgers this season after Ohtani won last week, marking the first time a player has won in consecutive weeks since Aaron Judge on July 25th and August 1st in 2022 and the first time it has happened in the NL since Manny Machado won on August 24th and 31st in 2020. Ohtani is one of eight players since 1973 to claim at least three awards in both leagues, joining Carlos Beltrán (6 NL/4 AL); Adrián González (5 NL/3 AL); Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero (7 NL/3 AL); Manny Machado (4 AL/4 NL); Mark McGwire (5 AL/5 NL); Al Oliver (5 NL/3 AL); and Gary Sheffield (9 NL/3 AL).

José Ramírez , Cleveland Guardians (@ramirez_jose11)

  • The 32-year-old hit .500 (7-for-14) with two homers, six RBI, three doubles, a triple, a walk, five runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.286 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage in four games last week.
  • The Dominican Republic native tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (6); tied for second in the AL in RBI and total bases (18); and tied for third in doubles.
  • The six-time All-Star fell a single short of the cycle on Wednesday against Cincinnati, marking his first career game with a double, triple and home run. After adding a home run and a double on Saturday against Houston, he finished the year with multiple extra-base hits in 14 games, tied for sixth-most in the Majors. Ramírez was one of nine players in the Majors with at least three extra-base hits in three-or-more contests this year.
  • The four-time Silver Slugger Award-winner had multiple hits in five of his final seven games of the year and had at least one hit in 20 of his 25 games in September. His 113 games with at least one hit and 134 games in which he reached base safely were both the best marks on the Guardians this season and ranked tied for fifth-most and ranked sixth-most in the Majors this season, respectively.
  • The 12-year veteran clubbed his 39th homer of the year on Saturday against Houston, tying his career-high mark from 2018. Along with his career-high 41 stolen bases, it was the second time in his career that he eclipsed the 30/30 mark after he also stole 34 bases in 2018. He remains one of three players in Cleveland history with a 30/30 season, joined by Joe Carter (32 HR and 31 SB in 1987) and Grady Sizemore (33 HR and 38 SB in 2008).

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (@shoheiohtani)

  • The 30-year-old hit .520 (13-for-25) with a homer, seven RBI, four doubles, three walks, six runs, four stolen bases, a .800 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage in six games last week.
  • The Japan native led the Majors in batting average and on-base percentage; tied for the Major League lead in hits (13), doubles and stolen bases; ranked second in OPS (1.371); ranked third in total bases; tied for third in RBI; and tied for fourth in slugging and extra-base hits (5).
  • The four-time All-Star registered four hits and four RBI on Friday at Colorado, marking his fourth game of the year with at least four hits, and second game with at least four hits and at least four RBI. Overall, Ohtani was one of six players with at least two such games this season, joining Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Schwarber, Bryan Reynolds, Ceddanne Rafaela and Willy Adames.
  • The 2021 and 2023 AL MVP with the Angels stole his 57th base of the year on Friday at Colorado, passing Ichiro Suzuki (2001) for the single-season record by a Japanese-born player. He finished the year with 59 stolen bases and was successful in his last 36 attempts (since July 23rd), marking the second-longest streak in Dodgers’ franchise history. His streak trails only Davey Lopes, who successfully stole 38 consecutive bases from June 6-August 24, 1975.
  • The 2018 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year became the first player since 2001 with at least 400 total bases in a single season when Sammy Sosa (425); Luis Gonzalez (419); Barry Bonds (411); and Todd Helton (402) each accomplished the feat. Ohtani’s 411 total bases on the year are tied with Bonds (2001) for fifth-most in a single season, trailing Hall of Famer Stan Musial (429 in 1948); Sosa (425 in 2001); Gonzalez (419 in 2001); and Sosa (416 in 1998).
  • Ohtani closed out his incredible season on a 12-game hitting streak dating back to September 17th, marking the third-longest hitting streak of his career behind a 15-game streak during last season and a career-long 18-game streak in 2022. During the current streak, he is slashing .547/.586/1.057/1.643 with seven homers, 22 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (.348, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, .826 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.286, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 4 R, .929 SLG) of the New York Yankees; infielder Lenyn Sosa (.400, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 7 R, .800 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; catcher Cal Raleigh (.333, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, .667 SLG) and starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (1-1, 3.09 ERA, 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 13 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; first baseman Ryan O’Hearn (.400, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, .750 SLG) of the Baltimore Orioles; and closer Lucas Erceg (0.00 ERA, 3/3 SV, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 SO) of the Kansas City Royals.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Jonah Bride (.440, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .880 SLG), shortstop Xavier Edwards (.481, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 3 3B, 5 BB, 8 R, 1 SB, .815 SLG, .563 OBP) and starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (2-0, 1.59 ERA, 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 8 SO) of the Miami Marlins; shortstop Masyn Winn (.320, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 8 R, .680 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Ohtani’s All-Star teammate outfielder Teoscar Hernández (.375, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 SB, .667 SLG) of the Dodgers; and Colorado Rockies four-time All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon (.421, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 BB, 5 R, .737 SLG), who announced his retirement last week after a 14-year career, closing out his career with a single in his final at-bat on Sunday against the Dodgers. He ranks in the top six in Rockies’ franchise history in triples (68, first); games played (1,624, second); runs scored (996, second); hits (1,805 second); doubles (334, second); extra-base hits (629, second); total bases (2,956, second); walks (485, third); RBI (801, fourth); and home runs (227, tied-fifth).

ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET

Game-Ending, Postseason-Clinching Triple Play By the San Diego Padres

September 24th at Dodger Stadium – Watch It Here

The San Diego Padres earned their fourth award in franchise history and first since Fernando Tatis Jr. previously won last season on September 25th. Tatis also won on July 12, 2021 and Manny Machado claimed the Padres’ first award on April 12, 2019. The clutch play, which sealed San Diego’s Postseason spot, marked the ninth triple play in Padres’ history and per Sarah Langs, was the 28th game-ending triple play in Baseball history. With runners at first and second and the potential winning run at the plate, Miguel Rojas grounded a ball to Manny Machado at third base, who stepped on the bag and threw to Jake Cronenworth at second base, who relayed the throw to Donovan Solano at first base to complete the play. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Derek Hill’s long run and nice catch; JJ Bleday’s fantastic leaping catch; Nasim Nuñez’s diving stop and long throw to first; Michael Harris II’s diving grab; Anthony Santander’s diving catch to start the double play; and Corbin Carroll’s home run robbery.