Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending July 15th. This is the second consecutive weekly honor for the 25-year-old, who won his first career weekly award last week after hitting .517 (15-for-29) with three homers and nine RBI. It marks the first time that a Bucs player has won weekly honors twice in the same season since Jason Bay, who also won in consecutive weeks, for the weeks ending May 21st and May 28th in 2006. McCutchen becomes the second N.L. player this season to capture the award in consecutive weeks, joining Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers (4/9 and 4/16). The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
In three games last week, McCutchen hit .583 (7-for-12) while leading the Majors with a 1.333 slugging percentage, 16 total bases and tying for the Major League-lead with three home runs. The two-time All-Star also ranked first in the N.L. in on-base percentage (.643), second in hits and was tied for second with four RBI while ranking third in hitting. McCutchen, who was the leading hitter in the Majors during the first half, clubbed a homer in each of his three games after returning from the All-Star break in Kansas City, where he represented the Pirates (along with teammate Joel Hanrahan) at the 2012 Midsummer Classic. On Sunday, McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in a losing effort as the Pirates dropped the rubber match of their threegame series at Milwaukee, 4-1. In Saturday’s matchup between the two clubs, the Florida native clubbed a two-run homer in the third inning en-route to a 6-4 victory for the Bucs. The 11th overall selection in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft also went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday’s 10-7 loss in Milwaukee. McCutchen currently leads the Majors with a .371 batting average and .651 slugging percentage and ranks second with 119 hits.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (.500, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1.100 SLG, SB) and Martin Maldonado (.615, 2 2B, 8 H, .615 OBP); Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman (.545, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 1.000 SLG, .615 OBP); Alfonso Soriano (.545, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1.273 SLG, .545 OBP) of the Chicago Cubs; and San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 ER, 11 SO, 1 BB, 8.0 IP).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Andrew McCutchen will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.