MLB names Reid Detmers, Bryce Harper as Players of the Week

Major League Baseball (MLB) named its Players of the Week in the American and National Leagues on Monday. For the week of May 9 to May 15, 2022, the weekly honors went to Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper.

Detmers pitched the first no-hitter in MLB 2022 season during the game on Tuesday, resulting in the Angels winning 12-0 over the Tampa Bay Rays. He pitched the 12th no-hitter in Angels history and became the 25th rookie in MLB history to pitch a no-hitter. In the game, he gave up just one walk and one error, pitching to contact and striking out just two hits to shut down Tampa’s offense.

Meanwhile, Harper has had a slow start to the 2022 season as he hit just .138 in his first eight games. There has been a significant improvement since then. The past 26 games have seen Harper hit .353 with eight home runs, 22 RBIs, and an impressive 1.118 OPS. Furthermore, the MLB took notice of him after his outstanding pitch on the West Coast last week.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1526289891096666113

Detmers’ highlights

Against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, Detmers dominated throughout the entire game. Despite only striking out twice, he demonstrated impeccable control, command, and balance. As a result, he pitched all nine innings without allowing any hits or runs and gave up only one walk. The outing lowered his ERA significantly to 3.77. Detmers shut down the Rays’ fairly solid offense for the entire night.

Detmers had just made his professional debut last year after missing the entire 2020 campaign due to the pandemic. In the majors, he struggled with a 7.40 ERA in 20.1 innings after soaring through Double-A and Triple-A. However, his velocity improved this time, and he seemed more mature at the plate. As a result, he plays better, and his performance last week is proof of that.

What a moment!

A no-hitter for Reid Detmers!

(MLB x @budweiserusa) pic.twitter.com/UZ9ohyejRd

— MLB (@MLB) May 11, 2022

Harper’s highlights

Harper won MLB Player of the Week for the sixth time in his career. But, this is the first time he has received the award since the 2018 season. Last week, Harper hit .609 with a 1.261 OPS in six games. He scored eight runs, hitting three home runs, six doubles, eight RBIs, 14 hits, four walks, and striking out twice in 28 plate appearances. The Phillies swept the series in Seattle and Los Angeles, winning five of seven games.

The weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers was, however, the highlight of the week for him and Philadelphia. Harper hit one home run in three consecutive games, finishing 8-for-12 with three home runs, eight RBIs, four doubles, and five runs scored.

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This season has seen Harper strike the ball the hardest of his career with a 51.5 hard-hit percentage, slightly better than his record in 2015 with 51.2%. He also hit more line drives, 35.6%, the highest in his career as well. However, he has the lowest 28.7% ground ball ratio in his career.

Harper currently leads with nine home runs, 14 doubles, 29 runs scored, and a slugging percentage of .634 in the National League. But, he placed second in both OPS and RBI, with a .995 OPS and 27 RBIs.