Prince Fielder Named American League Player Of The Week
Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April
14th. This marks the fifth time that Prince has garnered a weekly honor, his first in the A.L. He previously won four Player of the Week Awards in the National League while with the Milwaukee Brewers. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Fielder batted .632 (12-for-19) with four doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI, five runs scored and nine walks in six games. During the
week, the left-handed-hitting slugger led all Major League hitters in batting average, RBI, slugging percentage (1.158) and on-base
percentage (.733), was second overall in walks, tied for second in doubles, third in hits and tied for third in total bases (22).
Fielder got his award-winning week off to a quick start in Tuesday's tilt with the Toronto Blue Jays, roping a first-inning RBIdouble to help Detroit defeat the Jays, 7-3, at Comerica Park. The 28-year-old reached base four times, finishing 2-for-3 with a pair of walks to back teammate Anibal Sanchez in the win. After being edged out by the Blue Jays in an 8-6 loss on Wednesday, Fielder and the Tigers stormed back on Thursday in the Motor City with a 16-hit attack as Detroit rolled to an 11-1 victory to take the rubber match.
Prince went 2-for-2 with a double, a sacrifice fly, two walks and four RBI in the win. Moving westward to open a three-game set with the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum, the four-time All-Star continued his early season hot streak at the plate with a 4-for-5 showing, including a pair of singles, a double and a three-run homer as Detroit fell to the A's, 4-3, in 12 innings. On Saturday, the Ontario, California native launched his second homer in as many days to help Detroit cruise to a 7-3 win over Oakland. Fielder wrapped up the afternoon with a pair of hits, marking his third consecutive multi-hit game and his sixth in 12 games this season. In addition, Prince added two walks en route to his fourth game in five days with multiple free passes.
Entering play today, the nine-year veteran ranks among Major League leaders in several offensive categories through the
season's first two weeks, including first overall in batting average (.429), tied for first in RBI (19), second in on-base percentage (.527), third in slugging percentage (.833) and tied for third in walks (10). The former first round draft pick (seventh overall by Milwaukee in 2002) is riding a nine-game hitting streak, and has batted .533 (16-for-30) with four doubles, four homers and 18 RBI during the stretch.
Other noteworthy performances last week included the aforementioned Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP, 16 K); Boston's Clay
Buchholz (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 15.0 IP, 19 K, 7.0 no-hit innings vs. Tampa Bay on Sunday); Hiroki Kuroda (2-0, 1.88 ERA, SHO vs. Baltimore on Sunday) and Robinson Cano (.500, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1.091 SLG) of the New York Yankees; and Houston's Chris Carter (.440, 4 HR, 7 RBI).
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Prince Fielder will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game
Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.
