J.D. Martinez named American League Player of the Week

Rescued off the Houston Astros' scrap heap by the Detroit Tigers in the final week of spring training, outfielder J.D. Martinez hit his way onto the 25-man roster by slugging 10 home runs in just 65 at-bats with Triple-A Toledo. When the 26-year-old exploded with a four home run outburst during an April 19 Mud Hens double-header, Martinez was called up two days later.

Since joining Detroit, Martinez has provided the Tigers much needed power from a corner outfield position by hitting .310/.344/.593, with seven home runs and 27 RBI. But over this past week Martinez was absolutely white hot, crushing Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians pitching to the tune of .444/.464/1.000, a 1.464 OPS, four home runs, and 11 RBI.

Thanks to his exploits with the bat, Martinez was named American League Player of the Week for the period ending June 22. Martinez is the first Tiger to win the award in 2014.

Via MLB:

Martinez batted .444 (12-for-27) with three doubles, four homers, 11 RBI and six runs scored in seven games to grab his first career weekly honor and the first for Detroit this season. Teammates Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson were the last Tigers to win A.L. Player of the Week when the pair shared co-honors for the period ending August 11, 2013. J.D. led all Major League hitters in RBI and slugging percentage (1.000), and tied for first overall in home runs, extra-base hits (7) and total bases (27). Among American Leaguers, the right-handed-hitting Martinez was second in hits, tied for third in runs scored, was fifth in batting average and was tied for eighth in on-base percentage (.464).