Sports

MLB Names Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte as Players of the Week

By Joe Najarian Athlon Sports

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced the recipients of their Player of the Week Awards from May 18 to May 24.

In the American League, the winner was first baseman Willson Contreras of the Boston Red Sox, who went 11-for-24 (.458) over the course of the week. Meanwhile, second baseman Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks was the National League recipient after logging 15 hits in 28 at-bats (.536).

Willson Contreras' Hot Hitting

Willson Contreras, playing in his first season with Boston after being acquired in an offseason trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, has been the Red Sox's best hitter by a significant margin in 2026. Entering May 18, the 34-year-old had put up a rock-solid .830 OPS with six doubles, nine home runs, and 25 RBI.

However, Contreras kicked things into another gear over the past week. In three games each against the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins, the slugger scored a run in five of those six games and recorded multiple hits in four of them to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Of his 11 hits, two were triples and another two were home runs to give him an .875 slugging percentage and 274 wRC+ during this stretch.

As a result of his amazing week, Contreras improved his slash line even further to .281/.376/.522 along with a 148 wRC+. He currently leads the Red Sox with 1.8 fWAR, being closely followed by Wilyer Abreu with 1.6.

While Contreras' efforts allowed the Red Sox to sweep the Royals from May 18-20, they were swept by the Twins in Fenway Park over the weekend. Boston currently sits in last place in the AL East due to a lineup that is averaging just 3.73 runs per game, in spite of the great production from their first baseman.

Contreras has certainly been doing his part, and now it's up to the rest of the Red Sox offense to respond in kind.

Ketel Marte Snaps Slump in Style

On the morning of May 18, Ketel Marte was not hitting at the level he's been accustomed to. He carried a .216/.272/.365 slash line and 78 wRC+ through his first 42 games of the young season, while the Diamondbacks were trying to keep their heads above water with a 22-23 record.

But Marte was showing signs of breaking out of his slump with two multi-hit games in his last three contests. Those two games proceeded to set the tone of the 32-year-old's next seven games, as his bat suddenly became a magic wand and every batted ball found grass.

Of Marte's 15 hits, nearly half of them went for extra bases with four doubles and three home runs. With just 15 RBI to begin the year, he nearly doubled that total in the span of a week by driving in 12. Marte recorded his first three-hit game of the year on May 20, and put up two more of those over the weekend. His wRC+ over the week was a mind-boggling 326.

As Marte caught fire, so did the Diamondbacks. They began a stretch of 13 consecutive games without a day off on May 15, with every game against the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants. Arizona has gone 9-2 so far (including Monday's game); the biggest of those wins was on May 20 against San Francisco, when Marte completed his three-hit game with his first career walk-off home run. The three-run blast came with the D-Backs down to their final out and flipped a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 win.

Even with a new week beginning, Marte hasn't cooled off in the slightest. He tallied a season-high four hits on Monday and drove in three more runs in a 6-2 Arizona win over the Giants. Marte's slash line has now improved to .275/.327/.470, while the D-Backs are currently 29-24 and in possession of the third NL Wild Card spot.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 6:30 PM.

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER