By J.Y. Mortimer
St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Jordan Walker claims Play of the Week with diving catch
Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Houston Astros outfielder Chas McCormick has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Abrams earned his first career weekly honor and picked up the first Player of the Week Award for a Washington player since Kyle Schwarber in June 2021. In addition, Abrams is the first Nats infielder to take home the honor since Anthony Rendon in August 2019. McCormick also claimed his first career weekly honor and became the first Houston to player to win since his teammate Yordan Alvarez last September.
CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals (@cj__abrams)
- The 22-year-old hit .462 (6-for-13) with one home run, one RBI, one double, one triple, seven runs scored, two stolen bases, a .923 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage across three games played over the weekend.
- The Alpharetta, Georgia native led NL players last week in runs; tied for first in stolen bases and triples; tied for second in hits; ranked third in slugging; fourth in total bases (12); and tied for fourth in batting average.
- Abrams, who was acquired by Washington from San Diego last summer in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Padres, picked up two hits in each of his three games and enters play today with multiple hits in five consecutive contests dating back to July 8th.
- The sixth overall pick in the 2019 Draft recorded a pair of stolen bases and three runs scored in Friday night’s 10-inning road victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, and he has now registered 13 consecutive stolen bases without being caught.
Chas McCormick, Houston Astros (@chazkanemccormick)
- The 28-year-old hit .636 (7-for-11) with three home runs, five RBI, seven runs scored, a 1.455 slugging percentage and a .733 on-base percentage over his three games played during the weekend.
- McCormick led the AL in batting average, slugging, on-base percentage and runs; tied for first in home runs; ranked second in total bases (16); and tied for fifth in RBI.
- The West Chester, Pennsylvania native slugged two homers to close out the weekend during Houston’s 9-8 comeback win over the Angels in Anaheim.
- McCormick also homered in Saturday’s extra-inning loss while posting consecutive three-hit games on Saturday and Sunday. It was the fourth time in his career and second time this season that he homered in back-to-back games.
- The 21st round pick in the 2017 Draft out of Millersville University of Pennsylvania, who has slashed .410/.489/.821 with four home runs and 11 RBI over his last 11 games played, reached base a career-high five times on Saturday and reached in eight consecutive plate appearances from the ninth inning on Friday through the third inning on Sunday.
Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielder Kyle Schwarber (.278, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 3 R, .833 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; outfielder Cody Bellinger (.364, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 1.182 SLG) of the Chicago Cubs; outfielder Mookie Betts (.538, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, .769 SLG, .600 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 13 SO), closer Devin Williams (0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO) and catcher William Contreras (.500, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 R, .833 SLG, .538 OBP) of the Milwaukee Brewers; outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (.400, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 SB, 1.000 SLG, .571 OBP) of the Atlanta Braves; and rookie outfielder Henry Davis (.545, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 SB, .909 SLG .615 OBP) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included McCormick’s outfield teammate Kyle Tucker (.583, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2 R, 1.000 SLG, .647 OBP) of the Astros; third baseman Rafael Devers (.462, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, 1.3088 SLG), outfielder Masataka Yoshida (.357, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 3B, 3 R, .714 SLG) and first baseman Triston Casas (.444, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 1.444 SLG) of the Boston Red Sox; outfielder Kerry Carpenter (.455, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, 1.273 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers; outfielder Taylor Ward (.429, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, .786 SLG, .500 OBP) of the Angels; outfielders Andrew Benintendi (.500, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 4 R, .500 OBP) and Luis Robert Jr. (.417, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, .750 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; closer Jhoan Duran (3.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 SO) of the Minnesota Twins; and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.333, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, 1.083 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals.
Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Diving Catch by Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals
July 15th at Busch Stadium – Watch It Here
St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Jordan Walker earned his first career Play of the Week Award and the first by St. Louis since his teammate Nolan Arenado on August 22nd of last season. This marks the fourth Play of the Week Award overall for the Cardinals since the award was introduced in 2019 (also Kolten Wong in June 2019 and Tommy Edman in September 2021). In the top of the eighth inning on Friday night against the visiting Nationals, Walker made a fully-extended diving catch in right field to take away a hit from Washington’s Riley Adams. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Kyle Tucker’s game-ending diving grab; Trea Turner’s sliding stop and throw to first; Alex Burleson’s leaping catch at the wall; Donovan Solano’s impressive glove flip to first; and James Outman’s leaping catch into the center-field wall.
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