(Photo Credit: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Third baseman Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals has been named National League Player of the Week for the week of April 13th-19th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Carpenter hit .480 (12-for-25) during the week with a Major League-best seven doubles. His batting average was the league’s second-highest mark while his 22 total bases paced the Senior Circuit. The Texas native also ranked among league leaders with a .880 slugging percentage (2nd) and six runs scored (T-4th), while adding a .480 on-base percentage and five RBI to his weekly totals. Carpenter’s hot bat at the top of the Cardinals lineup helped the club to a 5-1 record during last week’s six-game homestand. On Sunday night, his leadoff home run staked the Cardinals to a 1-0 lead in an eventual 2-1 victory as they completed a three-game sweep over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Carpenter went 2-for-3 in the contest to notch his seventh consecutive multi-hit game (4/12-19) and ninth on the young season. It also marked his seventh consecutive game with at least two hits and at least one extra-base hit, which is the longest such streak since 1991, when Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor had a similar seven-game stretch (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau). Carpenter has now reached base safely by hit or by walk in each of the Cardinals’ 11 games this season. This is his first career Player of the Week Award.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Washington’s Ian Desmond (.448, 6 R, 13 H, HR, 5 RBI, .500 OBP); Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman (.286, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .762 SLG); Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt (.296, 6 R, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .667 SLG); Howie Kendrick (.455, 6 R, 10 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .909 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton (.296, 6 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .630 SLG); Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole (2-0, 2.25 ERA, 14 SO, 12.0 IP); Jacob deGrom (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 SO, 13.1 IP) and Jeurys Familia (1.80 ERA, 5 SV, 5 SO, 5.0 IP) of the New York Mets; and Shelby Miller (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 7 SO, 11.0 IP) of the Atlanta Braves.
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Matt Carpenter will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.
