Rookie infielder Warming Bernabel of the Colorado Rockies has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and shortstop Trevor Story of the Boston Red Sox has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Bernabel earned his first career honor in his first full week in the Major Leagues after making his Major League debut on July 26th. He is the first Rockie to win the award since his teammate Brenton Doyle won last year on July 8th and is Colorado’s first rookie to win since Nolan Jones on October 2, 2023. Story earned his sixth career award and second with Boston after previously winning on May 23, 2022. Prior to his first American League award, he won four times as a member of the Rockies, earning honors on April 11, 2016; July 24, 2016; July 16, 2018; and June 3, 2019, and he is now one of 38 players with multiple awards in each league. It is the third recognition for the Red Sox this season following honors for Alex Bregman on April 7th and Rafael Devers on May 12th.
Warming Bernabel, Colorado Rockies
- The 23-year-old hit .462 (12-for-26) with two homers, seven RBI, four doubles, a triple, five runs scored, a .923 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage in six games.
- The Dominican Republic native tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7) and total bases (24); ranked second in slugging; tied for second in hits and doubles; ranked third in OPS (1.385); and ranked fourth in batting average.
- The infielder notched a career-high four hits on Friday against Pittsburgh, going 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored as he fell a double short of hitting for the cycle in the Rockies’ wild walk-off win. He became the second-youngest player in Colorado’s franchise history with four hits and four RBI in a single game, trailing Ezequiel Tovar, who had four hits and four RBI on June 8th last season at St. Louis.
- Bernabel had three hits on Saturday against Pittsburgh, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored. He became the fourth Rockies player under the age of 24 with seven hits in a two-game span and the first since Tovar accomplished the feat from May 17th-19th this season. He is one of three Rockies with at least three homers within his first six career games, joining Story (2016, 7 homers) and Tom Murphy (2015, 3 homers).
- After making his Major League debut on July 26th, Bernabel hit safely in each of his first seven games, marking the longest streak by a Rockies player to begin his Major League career since David Dahl tied a Major League record with a hit in each of his first 17 career games from July 25-August 11, 2016.
Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox (@trevv4)
- The 32-year-old hit .391 (9-for-23) with three homers, eight RBI, four doubles, two walks, seven runs scored, a stolen base, a .957 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage across six games.
- The Irving, Texas native led the Majors in slugging; tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7); ranked second in OPS (1.419); tied for second in doubles; ranked third in total bases (22); and tied for fifth in RBI.
- The two-time All-Star tallied four multi-hit games, picking up two hits on both Tuesday and Wednesday at Minnesota, and two hits apiece on Saturday and Sunday against Houston. He had a double and scored at least one run in four consecutive games from Tuesday at Minnesota through Friday against Houston, joining Ceddanne Rafaela (7/2-7/6) as the only Red Sox players to accomplish the feat this season.
- The two-time Silver Slugger homered in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Minnesota, marking the first time he homered in consecutive games since going deep in back-to-back contests on July 4-5, 2022. With his home run on Saturday, it marked the first time he hit three homers in a four-game span since May 2022. Since June 1st, Story’s 46 RBI are tied with Nick Kurtz of the Athletics for second-most in the Majors, trailing only San Diego’s Manny Machado (47).
- The 45th pick in the 2011 Draft (by COL) tallied his 18th stolen base of the year on Friday against Houston and is a perfect 18-for-18 to begin the year on stolen base attempts. Per Elias, his 18 straight steals to begin the year are the second-most by a Red Sox player since 1961, trailing only Julio Lugo, who started 2007 a perfect 20-for-20. His 18 stolen bases are the most in the Majors this season without being caught, followed by Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (17); Los Angeles’ (NL) Hyeseong Kim (12); Toronto’s George Springer (12); and Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper (10).
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included catcher William Contreras (.464, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 11 R, .857 SLG, .500 OBP) and first baseman Andrew Vaughn (.423, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 7 R, .769 SLG) of the Milwaukee Brewers; All-Star starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-0, 0.71 ERA, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) and All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman (.480, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .800 SLG, .519 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Bernabel’s teammate, left fielder Jordan Beck (.381, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .810 SLG, .500 OBP); and starting pitcher Andre Pallante (1-1, 1.50 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 8 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included second baseman Lenyn Sosa (.550, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 R, .850 SLG, .609 OBP) and rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery (.250, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 4 R, .750 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; Story’s teammates, starting pitcher Lucas Giolito (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 9 SO) and outfielder Jarren Duran (.333, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, 2 SB, .810 SLG); catcher/designated hitter Kyle Higashioka (.389, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 3B, 1 BB, 6 R, 1.000 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; third baseman Jordan Westburg (.444, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 8 R) and shortstop Gunnar Henderson (.333, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 4 BB, 8 R) of the Baltimore Orioles; shortstop Bo Bichette (.414, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 3 R) and outfielder Joey Loperfido (.435, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 R) of the Toronto Blue Jays; and starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen (2-0, 1.74 ERA, 2 GS, 10.1 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 11 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays.
ELECTRIC PLAY OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
Home Run Robbery by Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles
July 30th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards – Watch It Here
Prior to being acquired by the New York Mets at the Trade Deadline, Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins earned his eighth career Play of the Week Award, extending his Major League record since the award’s inception in 2019. Previously, he won on September 20, 2021; four times in 2023 (5/8, 7/10, 8/14 & 9/18) and twice in 2024 (4/8, 4/22). Additionally, the Orioles extended their Major League record with their 14th award, with Mullins’ eight awards joined by honors from Anthony Santander (6/8/2019); Austin Hays (2x, 9/23/2019 & 8/7/2023); Stevie Wilkerson (9/30/2019); and Gunnar Henderson (2x, 7/24/2023 & 9/5/2023). The Milwaukee Brewers’s 12 awards are the most in the National League, followed by the New York Mets’ 10 awards, marking the only other teams with at least 10 awards since 2019. With two outs and the Orioles leading 5-4 in the sixth inning in Mullins’ final game with Baltimore, Toronto’s Ali Sánchez hit a ball to deep center field as Mullins ranged back and scaled the wall to take away a potential go-ahead home run. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Mike Yastrzemski’s leaping catch over the wall; Oneil Cruz’s incredible outfield assist; Trea Turner’s behind the back flip to start a double play; Matt Vierling’s juggling catch through contact with the wall; Fernando Tatis Jr.’s home run robbery; Jake Cronenworth’s incredible diving grab; and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s diving stop and race to the bag.