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MLB Awards: Week Twenty-One

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September has already seen some brilliant baseball. Contenders are facing off and prospects are shining. The last week has been a great advert for the sport. Plenty of games, unfortunately, are pretty much meaningless at this time of year, though. Even in those, however, there have been some stunning performances.

For the 21st time this year, here are our weekly awards.

Performance of the Week

This week itt was announced that Shohei Ohtani needed Tommy John surgery. The next day, the two-way superstar went 4-4 with a walk and two homers just to remind everyone that he’s an elite hitter as well as an ace.

If there’s a positive to be taken from Ohtani’s surgery, it’s that we will get to see him hit almost everyday next season. He ranks among the top hitters in all of baseball in WRC+. He could be a legitimate All-Star candidate as a designated hitter.

       

Start of the Week

This has been the year of the no-hit bid. Few, though, have come closer than Royals rookie Jorge Lopez did on Saturday. Lopez carried a perfect game into the ninth inning.

His bid for history was ended with a walk and a base hit to start the ninth unfortunately, but – in a bleak season for Kansas City – this is a standout moment.

Defensive Play of the Week

A.J. Pollock can sometimes be forgotten about. The Diamondbacks centre fielder is a well-rounded ballplayer, and he showed off his defensive prowess against the Padres this week.

With Robbie Ray dominating, Luis Urias hit one into the gap, only for Pollock to chase it down. Statcast gave this just a 29% catch probability.

       

Nightmare of the Week

Michael Kopech is one of baseball’s most exciting prospect. The White Sox starter was called up a couple of weeks ago and showed off his ace-like stuff in a six-inning, one-run outing against the Tigers.

A marked drop-off in velocity followed, however, and it was announced this week that Kopech will miss the whole of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. This is a huge loss for the White Sox, and a real shame for baseball that one of the best young pitchers will be absent from the game.