New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending June 11th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Judge posted a slash line of .500/.600/1.000 with 10 runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and six RBI over six games to earn his first career AL Player of the Week Award, and the first for a Yankees position player since his teammate Gary Sánchez claimed weekly honors last season for the week ending August 28th. Among AL leaders, Aaron finished the period first in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored and total bases (24); tied for first in hits and extra-base hits (6); tied for second in walks (6); and tied for third in doubles and home runs.
On Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, the 25-year-old slugger logged two hits to extend his career-long hitting streak to nine games. During his hot stretch, Judge slashed .382/.488/.765 with 13 hits, eight runs scored, four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, seven walks and a stolen base. In Saturday's home tilt against the Baltimore Orioles, Judge, the AL's leading vote-getter for the 2017 All-Star Game, went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI to lead New York to a 16-3 victory. The 16 runs scored were the most in a game for the Yankees since tallying 16 runs against the Houston Astros last season on April 6th. In Aaron's final game during his award-winning week, the two-time 2017 AL Rookie of the Month (April, May) posted the first four-hit game of his career, including four runs scored, a double, two home runs and three RBI. The 32nd overall selection in the 2013 MLB Draft became the first Yankees player age 25-or-younger to hit 20 home runs before the All-Star break since Roger Maris accomplished the feat during his MVP-winning season in 1960. Judge, who paces the AL in batting average (.344), home runs (21) and RBI (47), became the youngest player (25 years, 46 days) in Yankee lore to go 4-for-4 with two-or-more homers since Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle (24, 211) on May 18, 1956. Led by their star outfielder, the Yankees went 6-0 during his torrid week and enter play today atop the AL East at 37-23 (.617).
Sánchez (.346, 9 R, 4 HR, 13 RBI) was also impressive last week for New York. The 24-year-old backstop recorded a hit in each of his six contests, including his fifth career multi-homer outing (87th career game) on Thursday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Mark McGwire is the only player in the Modern Era to have reached five multi-homer games faster (84). Mike Moustakas (.423, 6 R, 6 XBH, 9 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals was integral in his club registering four wins last week. Since the calendar flipped to June, the 2015 AL All-Star is slashing .395/.415/.816 with nine runs scored, four doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI. Other noteworthy performances included Aaron and Gary's teammate Starlin Castro (.417, 8 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and Houston's Mike Fiers (2-0, 1.46 ERA, 12 SO).
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Aaron Judge will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.