Jake Lamb named National League Player of the Week

Third baseman Jake Lamb of the Arizona Diamondbacks has been named National League Player of the Week for the week ending July 17th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network. In three games last week, Lamb led the Majors with a .583 batting average and 14 total bases, going 7-for-12 as the D-backs took two of three from the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. The 25-year-old also ranked among League leaders in hits (2nd), slugging percentage (2nd, 1.167), on-base percentage (2nd, .615), and RBI (T-3rd, 4), while clubbing a home run, a triple, and a pair of doubles.

Lamb tied a career high (six times) with a three-hit performance on Saturday, helping his club earn a 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Dodgers in walk-off fashion. The University of Washington product led off the home half of the 12th frame with his Major League-best eighth triple of the season before scoring the winning run on Brandon Drury's game-ending single. Lamb also impacted results in Sunday's rubber-match between the two clubs. The left-handed-hitting infielder got the D-backs on the board early with a run-scoring single off Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda in the bottom of the first.

Lamb staked his club to a 3-0 lead in the third, clubbing a solo shot off Maeda in an eventual 6-5 victory for Arizona. The home run was his 21st of the season, marking a career-high for the Seattle native. Lamb has also already set career bests in runs, doubles, and RBI, and is just one hit short of his previous career-high hits total of 92, which he set last year. His 21 homers are tied for fifth among NL hitters this season. This is his first career weekly honor. In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Jake Lamb will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.

Never mind this week, Lamb has been quite the revelation for the entire season. He only just trails Paul Goldschmidt in bWAR (3.1 to 3.2) and has actually got a significant lead over Goldie by fWAR (3.6 to 2.9). He's currently hitting at a line of .302/.380/.635, for an OPS of 1.015. That's the best in the National League this year among qualifying hitters, and trails only the Red Sox's Ortiz among all major-leaguers. Not bad for a 25-year-old. Whatever the question-marks about his defense - no major-leaguer at the position has made more errors than Lamb - he has truly blossomed at the plate, and looks set to become a franchise cornerstone going forward.