New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo is your American League Player of the Week. Rizzo hit .407/.429/.926 with four home runs and seven RBIs. Alec Bohm was the National League Player of the Week. Rizzo has been on a tear with his 1.354 OPS, and his offense has shown some serious power numbers. Rizzo doesn’t mess around and he has cooked up some red-hot offense for the Yankees so far this season.
Anthony Rizzo Wins AL Player of the Week
Anthony Rizzo: .407/.429/.926, 4 HR, 7 RBI
Alec Bohm: .567/.581/.933, 9 XBH, 8 RBIYour @Chevrolet AL and NL Players of the Week! pic.twitter.com/tzsROeEc8Y
— MLB (@MLB) April 29, 2024
Rizzo hit his 300th career home run in the Yankees’ victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Rizzo has always liked hitting in Wrigley North, and he ate up and added to a big offensive output by the Yankees. Hitting his 300th home run is such a huge milestone to achieve early in the season. He became the 161st player in MLB history to join the 300 home run club. Oddly enough, it was also the three-year anniversary of when Rizzo struck out Freddie Freeman. Rizzo also has quite the baseball portfolio in his baseball career in terms of awards:
- 3× All-Star (2014–2016)
- 2X Top 5 NL MVP Finishes
- World Series champion (2016)
- 4× Gold Glove Award (2016, 2018–2020)
- Platinum Glove Award (2016)
- Silver Slugger Award (2016)
- Fielding Bible Award (2016)
- Roberto Clemente Award (2017)
- MLB Rookie of the Month Award (July 2012)
- 2014, 2017, 2023 MLB Player of the Week Award.
First Baseman Stands Tall Offensively
Chicago Cubs fans certainly miss Rizzo and would love him back as a Cub, and there’s no surprise why. Some other impressive stats for Rizzo are his 1,594 career hits, 761 walks, and 945 RBI, and he is a .263 hitter with a 125 OPS+. Rizzo was also 7-for-8 with six runs scored, two doubles, two homers, and four RBIs in the last two games entering Monday. If Rizzo gets to 1,000 career RBI and enjoys a few more seasons of decent numbers, do we start thinking about a possible trip to Cooperstown?
Despite the Yankees having so many strong and lethal home run hitters, Rizzo certainly isn’t left behind and forgotten. And now by winning AL Player of the Week, he is continuing to beef up his impressive resumé. His achievements and milestones that he has achieved shouldn’t be downplayed, as the 34-year-old still has years ahead of him. When we look at players like Justin Turner who have gotten better with age, could Rizzo follow in those same footsteps?
Photo Credit: © Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
