September 12, 2022

Official Major League Baseball News Release

Shortstop Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays has been chosen the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet.

The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Bichette earned his first career Player of the Week Award and is Toronto’s first winner since his teammate Kevin Gausman in August, and the first Blue Jays position player to win since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in June. Freeman claimed his eighth career Player of the Week Award, and his third of the season after winning in June and July. Freeman, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday today, is just the 10th player in history with at least eight NL weekly honours since the award was introduced in 1973.

Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays

-The 24-year-old batted .500 (16-for-32) with 11 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, five home runs, 13 RBIs and a 1.156 slugging percentage over seven games played.

-The Florida native recorded at least three hits in each of his first three contests of the week, going 10-for-15 with four home runs and nine RBIs in a two-day span at Baltimore.

-A second round pick in 2016, Bichette recorded the first three-homer game of his career in the second game of a doubleheader on Monday at Baltimore. Along with his three hits in the opening game, he became the first shortstop in AL history with at least six hits and three homers in a single day.

-Along with the aforementioned Guerrero Jr., the duo became the second set of teammates in AL history under age 25 to have a three-homer game in the same season.

Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

-Hit .545 (12-for-22) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs and a 1.045 slugging percentage across six games.

-The six-time All-Star hit safely in each of his six games played, including a four-hit performance in an 8-4 road win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Freeman registered a double and a home run to go along with four RBI.

-The double on Saturday night was his 45th of the season, marking a new single-season best for the 2020 NL MVP. Freeman enters play today just 10 doubles shy of the Dodgers’ franchise record of 53 doubles in a season, set by Johnny Frederick in 1929. Shawn Green holds the Los Angeles-era mark with 49 doubles in 2003.

-With 180 hits on the season, the California native is also closing in on his career-best mark of 191 hits in 2018.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included outfielder Eloy Jiménez (.464, 2 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .857 SLG) and pitcher Lance Lynn (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13.0 IP, 6 H, 16 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; All-Star outfielder Mike Trout (.450, 2 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, 1.300 SLG) and two-way phenomenon Shohei Ohtani (.269, 3 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI; 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 7 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels; All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge (.458, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB, .792 SLG) of the New York Yankees; shortstop Carlos Correa (.387, 4 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .710 SLG) of the Minnesota Twins; pitcher Martín Pérez (1-1, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 SO) of the Texas Rangers; third baseman Eugenio Suárez (.350, 5 HR, 6 RBI, 1.100 SLG) of the Seattle Mariners; and catcher Eric Haase (.450, 3 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 1.050 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included outfielder Jake McCarthy (.458, 6 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 SB) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; infielder Jonathan Villar (.385, 6 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, .923 SLG) of the San Francisco Giants; shortstop Oneil Cruz (.423, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB) and pitcher Mitch Keller (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 8 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; infielder Eduardo Escobar (.520, 6 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .920 SLG) of the New York Mets; infielder Max Muncy (.471, 6 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1.059 SLG) of the Dodgers; shortstop C.J. Abrams (.400, 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI) of the Washington Nationals; and shortstop Nico Hoerner (.500, 7 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB) of the Chicago Cubs.