Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and Orioles’Gunnar Henderson Named MLB Players of the Week

NEW YORK — Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber has been selected the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Schwarber claimed his second career award after previously winning on June 21, 2021 as a member of the Washington Nationals. Overall, it is the fourth award for the Phillies this season after his teammates Trea Turner won on April 22^nd and August 19^th, and Alec Bohm won on April 29^th. Henderson also earned his second career honor after winning on June 12^th last season during his AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year campaign. He is the third Orioles player to earn honors this season after his teammates Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg claimed back-to-back awards on April 15^th and 22^nd. 

Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies (@kschwarb12)

• The 31-year-old hit .462 (12-for-26) with five homers, 11 RBI, three doubles, three walks, nine runs scored, a 1.154 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage in six games last week.
• The Ohio native led the Majors in homers, RBI, slugging, OPS (1.654), extra-base hits (8) and total bases (30); tied for the Major League lead in hits (12); ranked second in runs; tied for second in batting average; and ranked seventh in on-base percentage.
• The two-time All-Star smashed three homers and drove home six runs on Tuesday at Toronto, leading the Phillies to a comeback win. He joined Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt as the only players in franchise history to have five hits and three homers in a game. Along with his three-homer game on August 7^th at Los Angeles, Schwarber is the only player in Baseball history with multiple games of at least six RBI, four extra-base hits and five times on base in a single season and one of four players to have two such games in his career, joining Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio and Willie Stargell.
• The 2022 Silver Slugger hit his 13^th leadoff home run of the year on Wednesday at Toronto, tying Alfonso Soriano (2003) for the most in a single season. It was the second time in his career that he hit a leadoff blast in consecutive games (also: 9/1-9/2, 2023) and the fifth time in Phillies’ history, joining Jimmy Rollins (2002 and 2005) and Randy Ready (1989) as the only players to accomplish the feat.
• The fourth overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft (by the Cubs) is riding a seven-game hitting streak, over which he is slashing .419/.457/1.000 (13-for-31) with five homers and 11 RBI. The hitting streak is tied for the second-longest of his career after he previously hit in eight consecutive games on four occasions, including twice this year from June 25^th-July 13^th and July 31^st-August 8^th.

Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles (@g_henderson002)

The second-round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft scored three times on Tuesday, marking his 10^th such game of the season, tied with Elly De La Cruz for the most in the Majors this year. Since his debut last season, Henderson’s 17 games with at least three runs scored are the most in Baseball, followed by De La Cruz (12 games). After scoring his 100^th run of the year on August 20^th, he is one of six players in Orioles’ history with consecutive seasons of at least 100 runs scored.

The 23-year-old hit .417 (10-for-24) with three homers, five RBI, a double, three walks, six runs scored, two stolen bases, an .833 slugging percentage and a .464 on-base percentage in six games last week.

The Alabama native led the AL in slugging; tied for the AL lead in homers and total bases (20); ranked second in OPS (1.297); tied for second in batting average and hits (10); tied for sixth in runs; and ranked seventh in OBP.

The 2023 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year hit his 35^th homer of the year on Wednesday against Chicago (AL), passing Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004) for the most home runs by an Orioles shortstop in a single season. Henderson added to his record with his 36^th blast of the year on Friday against Tampa Bay, homering in consecutive games for the seventh time this season.

The 2024 All-Star tallied three hits on Wednesday against Chicago (AL) and on Sunday against Tampa Bay, marking his 15^th and 16^th three-hit games of the season, which are tied with Luis Arraez and Jarren Duran for the fourth-most in the Majors this year. His 16 three-hit games are tied for seventh-most in Orioles’ history (since 1954) and are the most by an Orioles player since Adam Jones had 17 such games in 2018.