Mookie Betts spent the last week tearing the cover off the ball, and Major League Baseball took notice.
The 22-year-old Boston Red Sox center fielder was announced Monday as the American League’s Player of the Week — the first time in his young career he’d taken home such an honor.
Betts posted a .581/.594/1.000 slash line with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, seven RBIs and eight runs scored in seven games against the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals. He twice fell just short of hitting for the cycle, missing the feat by a home run last Tuesday and by a single on Sunday.
Betts’ nasty collision with Fenway Park’s center field wall last weekend seems to have knocked something into place for the young outfielder. Since the crash and ensuing two-game absence, he’s upped his batting average by 40 points (to .277) and his slugging percentage by more than 70 (to .453).
Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer took home NL Player of the Week honors after tossing consecutive complete games: a one-hit, 16-strikeout gem and a no-hitter in which he lost a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning.
Thumbnail photo via Peter G. Aiken/USA TODAY Sports Images
