Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martinez wins MLB Player of the Week.
Angel Martinez has been one of the best pleasant surprises for the Cleveland Guardians so far during the 2026 season. While the team might have envisioned him as a piece to their roster, the 24-year-old is breaking out as a budding star and has been one of th key reasons for the team’s continued hot start.
Martinez is getting a little national recognition for how he’s performed as of late, and was recently named the American League’s Player of the Week for his performances from May 10-17th. It’s his first time winning the weekly honor, and it's well-deserved recognition, too.
Over the last seven games, Martinez owns a .333/.385/.875 slash line. He drove in eight runs during Cleveland’s last two home series, and even belted four home runs. The switch-hitter’s nine home runs on the season still lead the Guardians. Yes, that’s more than Jose Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Kyle Manzardo have hit this year.
After Martinez found out he had won the award, he expressed his joy and excitement at receiving the recognition and said he's just happy that the hard work he's been putting in is starting to pay off.
At the same time, Martinez doesn't want to get to high on the results, "because then the focus goes away."
Stephen Vogt had a similar message for Martinez after his performance on Sunday, before anyone knew the 24-year-old would win Player of the Week.
"Keep going. Keep going. Like I said last night, we have to continue to push Angel, and he wants to push himself to be great, and we've got to keep doing it," said Cleveland's skipper.
Looking at this accomplishment on a larger scale, Martinez is the third member of the Guardians to win Player of the Week so far in 2026. The other two were Chase DeLauter (week of March 28) and Jose Ramirez (week of April 18).
Martinez is now up to a .822 OPS on the season, which is the second highest on the team only trailing Chase DeLauter (.861 OPS).
Martinez cementing his name next to a Rookie of the Year candidate and a bona fide superstar is just another example of the jump he’s made and how much he’s impacted the club so far this year.
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