Nelson Cruz Wins AL Player Of The Week Honors
Stop what you’re doing and think about the last week’s worth of Seattle Mariners baseball. What sticks out? What was the one thing that you noticed more than all the other things? Nelson Cruz, is probably the answer you thought of. Unless your answer was “home runs,” which is pretty much the same answer.
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Cruz hit a lot of home runs last week – six, to be exact, which is one more than anyone else has overall. Cruz, in one week, managed to hit more bombs than anyone has over the course of the whole season, which is going on three weeks old. He’s at eight on the year, and is out-homering several entire teams. He’s been hot, but he’s also been overwhelmingly powerful.
The home runs have caught our eye, but the production doesn’t stop there. Cruz is also batting .500 over this stretch, with an OPS of 1.806. Eight homers in eight games, though, and all at pitcher’s parks. And people worried that Safeco would prove too much for Cruz to overcome.
Nelson Cruz, on the year, has amassed 1.1 WAR. The other twelve Mariners position players have combined for 0.9 WAR. Cruz hasn’t done it all, but he’s done… about half of it, if not a little more.
Your eyes and brain told you that last week, Nelson Cruz was absolutely unbelievable. Everyone agrees, and now he has an award to show for it. He absolutely deserves it, and hopefully he can nab another one later in this season. I wouldn’t put it past him – he won Player of the Week twice last season, after all.