Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino named American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet; Philadelphia’s Ranger Suárez named National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet

First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and starting pitcher Ranger Suárez of the Philadelphia Phillies been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Pasquantino earned his third career honor and second of the season after previously winning Kansas City’s most recent award on June 9^th and his first career award on August 15, 2022. He is the seventh player to win at least three career awards with the Royals, joining Hall of Famer George Brett (12x); Billy Butler (4x); Hal McRae (4x); Bret Saberhagen (4x); Mike Sweeney (4x); and Carlos Beltrán (3x). Suárez earned his first career award, marking the second honor for Philadelphia this season after Zack Wheeler was recognized on July 7^th. It is the first time multiple pitchers have won the award in a single season for Philadelphia since Tommy Greene (May 26^th) and Mitch Williams (August 11^th) were honored in 1991. Suárez is the first Phillies left-hander to earn the honor since Cole Hamels on July 26, 2015 after his no-hitter in his final start with the franchise.

Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals (@pasquantino)

• The 27-year-old hit .379 (11-for-29) with six homers, 12 RBI, two doubles, two walks, seven runs scored, a 1.069 slugging percentage and a .438 on-base percentage in seven games.
• The Richmond, Virginia native led the Majors in homers, slugging, OPS (1.507), extra-base hits (8) and total bases (31); ranked second in RBI; tied for third in hits; tied for fourth in runs scored; and ranked ninth in batting average.
• The 11^th-round selection in the 2019 Draft homered in each of his first five games of the week, hitting longballs in all four games against Texas before matching the franchise record with a homer in his fifth straight contest in the series opener at Detroit on Friday. He joined Mike Sweeney (June 25-29, 2002) and teammate Salvador Perez (August 25-29, 2021) as the only Royals to homer in five consecutive games.
• The Old Dominion University product also homered in the series finale at Detroit on Sunday, becoming the first Royal with six homers in a seven-game stretch since Perez also had six homers in a seven-game stretch from August 23-29, 2021. Pasquantino is the first Royal to accomplish the feat while playing all games defensively at first base since Jeff King homered six times in a seven-game stretch from June 11-20, 1997.
• The first baseman tallied an extra-base hit and RBI in each of his seven contests, becoming the second player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, tying Eric Hosmer’s seven-game stretch from August 9-15, 2015. Pasquantino’s 27 RBI lead the American League and are second-most in the Majors in August, trailing only Arizona’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (29 RBI).

Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia Phillies (@rangerjose10)

• The left-hander went 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA (2 ER/13.2 IP) while allowing seven hits with no walks, 21 strikeouts, a 0.51 WHIP, a .146 opponents’ batting average and 13.83 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Venezuela native led the Majors in strikeouts; tied for the Major League lead in wins; tied for second in innings pitched among all pitchers; and ranked eighth in WHIP among starting pitchers.
• The 29-year-old struck out a career high 11 batters on Sunday against Washington, dealing 7.0 scoreless innings in which he allowed just three hits. He pitched 6.2 innings in the series opener on Monday against Seattle, registering 10 strikeouts while allowing two runs on four hits with no walks en route to his 50^th career winning decision. He became the first Phillies left-hander to record 10 strikeouts and earn the win in consecutive starts since Cole Hamels in September 2006.
• The 2024 All-Star became the third Phillies pitcher with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks while earning the win in consecutive starts, joining his teammate Zack Wheeler (6/20-7/6/2025) and Curt Schilling (9/15-9/21/1996). His 10 strikeouts on Monday opened a dominant sweep for Philadelphia over Seattle, as Suárez combined with teammates Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo (12 strikeouts each) to fan 34 batters in the three-game set. Per Elias, it was the sixth time since 1900 that each starter for a club struck out at least 10 batters in a series of at least three games and the first time it was accomplished by all left-handed starters.
• The eight-year veteran has allowed one-or-zero runs in 10 of his 20 starts this season and has permitted two-or-fewer runs in 13 of his 20 starts. Philadelphia’s starters lead the Majors with 797 strikeouts on the year, 463 of which have come from left-handed starters, marking the second-most by the franchise since 1892, when the mound was set at 60 feet and 6 inches, trailing a record mark of 465 in 2013.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included rookie catcher Kyle Teel (.478, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 7 R, .783 SLG, .538 OBP) of the Chicago White Sox; Pasquantino’s teammate, All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.414, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 8 R, 2 SB); starting pitcher Trevor Rogers (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 16 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; outfielder Wyatt Langford (.375, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 7 BB, 9 R, 2 SB, .750 SLG, .516 OBP) and shortstop Corey Seager (.407, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R) of the Texas Rangers; designated hitter/outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (.375, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, 1.188 SLG) of the New York Yankees; shortstop Bo Bichette (.458, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, .519 OBP) of the Toronto Blue Jays; and infielder Carlos Correa (.370, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R) of the Houston Astros.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included Suárez’s teammate, shortstop Trea Turner (.414, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 7 R, 4 SB); All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman (.370, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 7 R, 1 SB, .815 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; left fielder Jurickson Profar (.360, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 6 R, 2 SB) of the Atlanta Braves; center fielder Brenton Doyle (.455, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 4 R, 1 SB, .955 SLG) of the Colorado Rockies; All-Star starting pitcher Paul Skenes (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 15 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor (.385, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 6 R, 3 SB) and second baseman Jeff McNeil (.353, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1.000 SLG) of the New York Mets; closer Daniel Palencia (2.25 ERA, 4 G, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 8 SO) and starting pitcher Jameson Taillon (1-0, 1.64 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 7 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; and second baseman Brice Turang (.407, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB, 5 R, 1 SB) of the Milwaukee Brewers.

ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Incredible Home Run Robbery by Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres
August 20h at Petco Park – Watch It Here

San Diego Padres All-Star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. earned his third career Play of the Week Award after previously winning on July 12, 2021 and September 25, 2023. It is the second award of the year for San Diego, following Manny Machado’s honor on July 15^th, marking the first time the club has won multiple awards in the same season. With one out in the top of the first inning, San Francisco’s Rafael Devers hit a ball deep to right field as Tatis jumped and made a leaping catch above the wall to bring back a home run. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Michael Harris II’s great game-ending catch; William Contreras’ spinning tag to save a run; Matt Shaw’s great barehand pickup and throw to first; Ramón Laureano’s grand slam robbery; Michael Lorenzen’s long run and nice catch near the dugout; and Matt Olson’s sliding catch in foul ground.