Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has been named the National League Player of the Week, Major League Baseball said Monday, marking his first weekly award since switching leagues and his eighth overall.
The 29-year-old became the third Japanese player after Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki to win the weekly award in both leagues. He claimed the American League honor three times last year as part of his second AL MVP-winning season with the Los Angeles Angels.
For the week starting April 29, Ohtani batted .524 with three home runs and seven RBIs. The span included his first multi-homer game of the year, when he went deep twice in a 4-for-4 outing on May 5 as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves.
Through his first 35 games of the season, Ohtani led the majors in batting average, slugging percentage and hits, while sitting in a tie for most home runs.
Brent Rooker of the Oakland Athletics picked up the American League weekly honor after hitting .438 with three homers and seven RBIs over five games.
