MLB News: Pete Alonso of the Mets named National League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet; Vinnie Pasquantino of the Royals named American League Player of the Week Presented by Chevrolet

By Snuffy Smith

Pete Alonso with the Mets in 2023. By D. Benjamin Miller – Own work, CC0, https commons.wikimedia.org

Outfielder Denzel Clarke of the Athletics Repeats as Play of the Week Winner with Run-Saving Catch

 

June 9th, 2025

 

First baseman Pete Alonso of the New York Mets has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Alonso won his fifth career award after previously winning on June 24, 2019; September 26, 2022; July 30, 2023; and April 15th of last season. It is the first award for the Mets since his teammate Franciso Lindor won on August 26th last season. Pasquantino earned his second career honor after previously winning on August 15, 2022, and it is the first honor by a Royal since Bobby Witt Jr. on July 22nd last year. It is the first time that a pair of first basemen have won the award in each league since Miguel Cabrera (co-AL) and Cody Bellinger (NL) on April 23, 2022.

Pete Alonso, New York Mets (@polarpete20)

  • The 30-year-old hit .400 (12-for-30) with five homers, 15 RBI, two doubles, three walks, nine runs scored, a .967 slugging percentage and a .486 on-base percentage.
  • The Tampa, Florida native led the Majors in homers, RBI, and total bases (29); tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7); ranked second in slugging, OPS (1.453) and runs; tied for third in hits; and ranked eighth in on-base percentage.
  • The four-time All-Star hit two home runs on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium and Sunday at Colorado, marking his 22nd and 23rd career multi-homer games, surpassing Darryl Strawberry (22) for the most in Mets’ history. Additionally, the slugger now has 243 career home runs, tying and passing David Wright on Sunday for second-most in Mets’ history and now trailing only Strawberry’s 252 homers.
  • The 2019 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year tallied five RBI on Wednesday and added four more on Sunday, marking his 28th career game with at least four RBI, the second-most such games in Mets’ history behind only Strawberry’s 31. Additionally, the 28 games are the most by any Major League player since Alonso’s debut in 2019, followed by José Ramírez and Aaron Judge, both of whom have 26 games with at least four RBI during the stretch.
  • The two-time T-Mobile Home Run Derby Champion (2019 & 2021) has 18 RBI over his last eight games since June 1st, tied for the most RBI in an eight-game span in Mets’ history with Lindor (5/23-5/31/2022); Yoenis Céspedes (4/16-4/29/2016); and Carlos Beltrán (8/14-8/22/2007). Alonso tallied multiple RBI in four consecutive games from Tuesday through Friday, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history and the longest since Lucas Duda had multiple RBI in four consecutive games from September 24-29, 2015. Hall of Famer Mike Piazza holds the franchise record, tallying multiple RBI in five consecutive games from June 20-25, 2000.

 

First baseman Pete Alonso of the New York Mets has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Alonso won his fifth career award after previously winning on June 24, 2019; September 26, 2022; July 30, 2023; and April 15th of last season. It is the first award for the Mets since his teammate Franciso Lindor won on August 26th last season. Pasquantino earned his second career honor after previously winning on August 15, 2022, and it is the first honor by a Royal since Bobby Witt Jr. on July 22nd last year. It is the first time that a pair of first basemen have won the award in each league since Miguel Cabrera (co-AL) and Cody Bellinger (NL) on April 23, 2022.

Pete Alonso, New York Mets (@polarpete20)

  • The 30-year-old hit .400 (12-for-30) with five homers, 15 RBI, two doubles, three walks, nine runs scored, a .967 slugging percentage and a .486 on-base percentage.
  • The Tampa, Florida native led the Majors in homers, RBI, and total bases (29); tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (7); ranked second in slugging, OPS (1.453) and runs; tied for third in hits; and ranked eighth in on-base percentage.
  • The four-time All-Star hit two home runs on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium and Sunday at Colorado, marking his 22nd and 23rd career multi-homer games, surpassing Darryl Strawberry (22) for the most in Mets’ history. Additionally, the slugger now has 243 career home runs, tying and passing David Wright on Sunday for second-most in Mets’ history and now trailing only Strawberry’s 252 homers.
  • The 2019 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year tallied five RBI on Wednesday and added four more on Sunday, marking his 28th career game with at least four RBI, the second-most such games in Mets’ history behind only Strawberry’s 31. Additionally, the 28 games are the most by any Major League player since Alonso’s debut in 2019, followed by José Ramírez and Aaron Judge, both of whom have 26 games with at least four RBI during the stretch.
  • The two-time T-Mobile Home Run Derby Champion (2019 & 2021) has 18 RBI over his last eight games since June 1st, tied for the most RBI in an eight-game span in Mets’ history with Lindor (5/23-5/31/2022); Yoenis Céspedes (4/16-4/29/2016); and Carlos Beltrán (8/14-8/22/2007). Alonso tallied multiple RBI in four consecutive games from Tuesday through Friday, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history and the longest since Lucas Duda had multiple RBI in four consecutive games from September 24-29, 2015. Hall of Famer Mike Piazza holds the franchise record, tallying multiple RBI in five consecutive games from June 20-25, 2000.
Vinnie Pasquantino with the Kansas City Royals in 2023. By Johnmaxmena2 – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https commons.wikimedia.org

Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals (@pasquantino)

  • The 27-year-old hit .500 (13-for-26) with two homers, seven RBI, a double, a walk, four runs scored, a .769 slugging percentage and a .536 on-base percentage.
  • The Richmond, Virginia native tied for the Major League lead in batting average and hits; ranked fourth in on-base percentage; tied for fourth in total bases (20); ranked sixth in OPS (1.305); and ranked seventh in slugging.
  • The 11th-round pick in the 2019 Draft matched a career high with four hits in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader at St. Louis and reached base four times again on Saturday at Chicago (AL). He has now reached base safely in each of his last 24 games since May 12th, trailing José Ramírez’s 34-game stretch for the longest active streak in the Majors and longest by a Royal since Nicky Lopez reached in 31 consecutive games from August 21-September 21, 2021.
  • The Old Dominion University product opened his week with an RBI in five consecutive games, closing the streak with a home run in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday at the White Sox. It marked the seventh time in his career that he homered in consecutive games and second time this season (also: May 3rd-4th). It was the fourth time in his career that he had an RBI in at least five straight games, tied with a pair of five-game streaks in 2023 and 2024, and trailing a career-best seven-game stretch last season from June 24th-30th.
  • Pasquantino has hit safely in each of his last nine games since May 30th, batting .457 (16-for-35) with two homers, eight RBI, a .525 on-base percentage, a .657 slugging percentage and a 1.150 OPS during the stretch. It is tied for the fifth-longest hitting streak of his career, and two games shy of tying his career-best 11-game hitting streak, which he accomplished twice during the 2024 season.

Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included catcher/designated hitter Hunter Goodman (.400, 3 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 5 R, .960 SLG) of the Colorado Rockies; starting pitcher Paul Skenes (0.57 ERA, 2 GS, 15.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 15 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; second baseman Ketel Marte (.400, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 6 R, 1.000 SLG, .538 OBP) and starting pitcher Merrill Kelly (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; third baseman Manny Machado (.393, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 4 R, 1 SB), starting pitcher Stephen Kolek (0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 5 SO) and closer Robert Suarez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 2 SV, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 SO) of the San Diego Padres; starting pitcher Logan Webb (1.29 ERA, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 12 H, 0 BB, 17 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; shortstop Mookie Betts (.440, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; first/third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand (.538, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1.308 SLG, .571 OBP) of the Cincinnati Reds; outfielder Jesús Sánchez (.364, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 4 R, 1 SB) of the Miami Marlins; and starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 SO) of the Washington Nationals.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included right fielder Lawrence Butler (.429, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 2B, 5 BB, 11 R, 1 SB, .750 SLG, .515 OBP) and rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson (.500, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, .731 SLG, .519 OBP) of the Athletics; starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (2-0, 0.75 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 13 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; catcher Cal Raleigh (.350, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 R, 1 SB, .850 SLG) and starting pitcher George Kirby (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 17 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; catcher Adley Rutschman (.417, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 5 R) of the Baltimore Orioles; utilityman Willi Castro (.391, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 6 R) of the Minnesota Twins; right fielder Aaron Judge (.450, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 5 BB, 7 R, 1 SB, .850 SLG, .577 OBP) and infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (.381, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 3 R, 3 SB) of the New York Yankees; third baseman José Ramírez (.391, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 3 BB, 4 R, 4 SB) of the Cleveland Guardians; second baseman Marcus Semien (.381, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, .762 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; and first/third baseman Abraham Toro (.417, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 4 R) of the Boston Red Sox.

Denzel Clarke (courtesy The Athletics)

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Run-Saving Catch by Denzel Clarke of the Athletics

June 6th at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento – Watch It Here

Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke earned his second career Play of the Week Award after also winning last week for his home run robbery in Toronto, joining Riley Greene (September 19 & 26, 2022) as the only players to win the award in back-to-back weeks. It is the eighth honor for the A’s since the inception of the award in 2019, and other A’s to win the award include Ramón Laureano (4/21/2019); Elvis Andrus (4/5/2021); Tony Kemp (2x: 5/24/2021 & 5/16/2022); Matt Chapman (8/16/2021); and Max Schuemann (5/13/2024). With the A’s holding onto a 4-3 lead with two outs in the fourth inning, Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo hammered a ball deep into the gap that would have at least tied the game as Clarke ran back and made the catch before colliding hard into the wall. Additional Play of the Week candidates included TJ Friedl’s game-ending home run robbery; Xavier Edwards’ throw to the plate to nab the tying run; Ke’Bryan Hayes’ off-balance throw from foul territory; Bobby Witt Jr.’s incredible diving catch; and Cal Quantrill’s sliding catch in foul territory.

 

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