For the second time this year, there were co-winners in one league when Major League Baseball announced its players of the week on Monday. In the American League, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh of Cullowhee, North Carolina, and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic were honoured for the week from May 26 to June 1. In the National League, Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich of Thousand Oaks, California was honoured as the player of the week.
Cal Raleigh
No one on the planet would have expected the Mariners catcher to be the Major League leader in home runs, but that is where he is at after the first two months of the season with 23. This past week, Raleigh batted .348 with six home runs and 10 runs batted in. During six games, 23 at bats, and 27 plate appearances, he scored six runs and had eight hits, one stolen base, three walks, 26 total bases, an on base percentage of .444 and a slugging percentage of 1.130. Raleigh had two two-home run games. The first came in a 9-1 Mariners win over the Washington Nationals on May 27, and the second came in a 12-6 Mariners loss to the Minnesota Twins on May 30.
Junior Caminero
Caminero batted .379 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in. During seven games, 29 at bats, and 30 plate appearances, Caminero scored eight runs, and had 11 hits, four doubles, one walk, an on base percentage of .400 and a slugging percentage of .931. Caminero had three hits (one single, one double and one home run) to go along with six runs batted in during a 13-3 Rays win over the Houston Astros on May 29. He then had four hits (two doubles and two home runs) in a 16-3 Rays win over the Astros on May 31.
Christian Yelich
Yelich batted .500 with three home runs and nine runs batted in. During five games, 20 at bats, and 22 plate appearances, he scored five runs, and had 10 hits, one double, one stolen base, one walk, and had 20 total bases, an on base percentage of .545, and a slugging percentage of 1.000.
In all five games Yelich played this past week, the Brewers won. They beat the Boston Red Sox twice and the Philadelphia Phillies thrice. In the Brewers’s 5-1 win over the Red Sox on May 27, Yelich hit his first Major League Baseball walk off grand slam. He also had one double and one stolen base. He then had one walk in a 6-5 Brewers win over the Red Sox on May 28, and two home runs in a 6-2 Brewers win over the Phillies on May 30.
