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Cuban players Yordan Álvarez from the Houston Astros and Andy Pagés from the Los Angeles Dodgers were named this Monday Players of the Week for the American League and the National League, respectively, achieving a clean sweep for Cuban players in the weekly Major League awards.
Álvarez, known as "Air Yordan," made a spectacular comeback after a 2025 season marked by injuries, in which he was only able to play 48 games due to a fracture in his right hand and a severe sprain in his left ankle.
During the award-winning week, the slugger from the Houston Astros batted .471 with three home runs, two doubles, eight RBIs, seven walks, and only three strikeouts, numbers that reflect the fullness of his comeback, according to MLB.
So far this season, Álvarez leads Major League Baseball in on-base percentage (.578) and slugging (.900), and is tied with his teammate José Altuve for the most walks with 12, in addition to sharing third place in home runs with four.
It is the fourth time that Álvarez has received the American League Player of the Week award in his career; the most recent prior to this was in August 2024.
For his part, Andy Pagés, 23 years old and originally from Arroyos de Mantua, Pinar del Río, had a sensational week with the Dodgers, hitting .583 in 24 at-bats, with two home runs, two doubles, seven RBIs, and an OPS of 1.532.
The young Cuban led all of MLB in hits and total bases during the period, and in the 2026 season, he shares the batting title with Xavier Edwards with an average of .471 and 16 hits.
Pagés comes from a 2025 season in which he recorded 27 home runs, 86 runs batted in and a bWAR of 3.8, in addition to winning his second consecutive World Series ring with the Dodgers.
This is the second time Pagés has received the Player of the Week award from the National League, having won the honor for the first time in April 2025.
The award ceremony concluded with the outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels, who won the Play of the Week award for stealing three home runs in a single game against the Mariners last Saturday, in a 1-0 victory.
Adell denied home runs to Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor, and J.P. Crawford, and in the ninth inning, he jumped over the right field fence and rolled into the stands while keeping control of the ball to complete the out.
"That was crazy," Adell declared. "Right after the first one, we were really excited. And then I received the second one, which looked exactly like the first. And I said: 'my routes are perfect tonight'."
It is the second Play of the Week award that Adell has accumulated in the 2026 season, making this week one of the most notable in terms of individual accolades since the start of the campaign.
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