The Toronto Blue Jays are enjoying a solid second half of the Major League Baseball season, and their individual performances haven’t gone unnoticed.
Third baseman Josh Donaldson and starting pitcher David Price were named the American League co-players of the Week on Monday.
Both players have been crucial parts of Toronto’s eight game win streak which has seen the team soar from eight back of the AL-East leading New York Yankees to just 1 1/2 after completing a sweep of their division rivals over the weekend.
Donaldson, acquired in the off-season from the Oakland Athletics in the trade that sent Brett Lawrie the other way, batted .385 (10-for-26) with five home runs, eight runs batted in, nine runs scored, and two doubles from August 3rd to August 9th.
Price, who has been the talk of Canada since he was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on the non-waiver trade deadline, went 2-0 with a 0.60 earned-run average and 18 strikeouts in 15.0 innings of work in his first two starts with his new team.
This is Price’s first career Player of the Week honor, and Donaldson’s third, second this season, first coming the last week of May.
Donaldson is enjoying an MVP-caliber season where he is poised to post career bests in all offensive columns; he set a career high in home runs Friday night in the first inning of Toronto’s 2-1 win over the Yankees, notching his 30th long ball of the season.
Among AL ranks, Donaldson finished the week first in home runs, runs scored, total bases (27), and extra-base hits (7), second in slugging percentage (1.038), tied for second in RBI, tied for fourth in walks (5), and tied for fifth in on-base percentage (.484). Price finished first in innings pitched, tied for first in wins and strikeouts, and tied for fourth in ERA.
Center fielder Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates was named National League player of the week. McCutchen recorded seven home runs, eight RBI, and eight runs scored.