Shohei Ohtani Named National League Player of the Week

Shohei Ohtani was named National League Player of the Week on Monday.

The Dodgers’ newly minted leadoff hitter hit four home runs, drove in 11, and slashed .458/.567/1.083 on the week for the Dodgers.

Ohtani previously won Player of the Week honors seven times as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, and once (May 6) with the Dodgers. Teoscar Hernández’s NL Player of the Week award on June 10 is the only other one won by a Dodger this season.

The transition to the National League has been more than smooth for Ohtani. He’s hit safely in each of his last seven games, and in 20 of his 24 games so far this month, reaching base safely in 22 of the contests. Here’s what else he did to earn the award, as detailed in MLB’s press release Monday:

• The 29-year-old hit .458 (11-for-24) with four homers, 11 RBI, three doubles, six walks, eight runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.083 slugging percentage and a .567 on-base percentage in six games last week.
•  The Japan native led the Majors in RBI, slugging, OPS (1.650), extra-base hits (7) and total bases (26); tied for the Major League lead in homers; ranked second in OBP; tied for second in walks; tied for fourth in runs scored; and tied for fifth in batting average.
•  The two-time unanimous AL MVP finished his week with home runs in three straight games and in four of his last five games during the stretch. It is the eighth time in his career that he has homered in three straight games and his second such streak of this season. He hit a 476-foot home run on Tuesday night at Colorado, marking the longest home run the Majors this season and the longest homer of his career.
•  The 2018 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year has hit safely in each of his last seven games and in 20 of his 24 games so far this month, reaching base safely in 22 of the contests. Along with his seven-game hitting streak, Ohtani has also recorded an RBI and a run scored in each of those seven games, marking the longest streak in his career with at least one hit, one RBI and one run scored.
•  The three-time All-Star recorded three straight multi-hit games at Colorado to begin his week, picking up three hits on Monday and two hits each on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overall, Ohtani’s 30 multi-hit games are third-most in the Majors this season, while his eight games with at least three hits are tied for fourth.

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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