Nationals Player Of The Week: Danny Espinosa (6/27-7/3)

This week’s Washington Nationals player of the week goes to shortstop Danny Espinosa, who is red hot at the plate right now.

When coming up with this week’s Washington Nationals player of the week, it was easy to pick who would be the recipient. This week, the pick is shortstop Danny Espinosa. In the seven games played this week (Washington Nationals went 6-1), Espinosa went 11-for-26 (.423) with eight runs scored, hit five home runs, had 17 RBI’s, and had a .516 on-base percentage.

Even though the 29-year-old had a good Mets series when he drove in two RBI’s in Monday’s 11-4 win. But, the highlight of his week occurred against the Reds during this last week when he hit five home runs (two grand slams) and had 15 RBI’s. Plus, he made some history this weekend:

Danny Espinosa’s 15 RBIs vs. Reds this weekend is tied for third-most in a 4-game series in @MLB history. pic.twitter.com/zIPh3h4cHY
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) July 3, 2016

The other historical moment that Espinosa had this week occurred on Thursday night when he hit two home runs with one coming from both sides of the plate. When that happened, he became the first Washington Nationals player to ever do that in a game. He ended up repeating that feat today.

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Espinosa, as well as the rest of the Nats, is going to miss hitting against Reds pitching. In 27 at-bats, Espinosa hit .296 with eight hits (six of them being home runs) and 16 RBI’s. The two grand slams came in blowout wins this weekend (Thursday and today), but don’t disregard the two-run home run he hit in the eighth inning that began the Washington Nationals coming back to tie the game Saturday night. The Nats eventually lost in ten innings.

During the month of June, Espinosa hit .309 with nine home runs and 21 RBI’s in 26 games. His nine home runs were tied with Adam Duvall (Reds) for third in the National League and two behind Kris Bryant (Cubs) and Wil Myers (Padres) for the league lead.

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If you look at where Espinosa stands among other hitters in the number eight spot in Major League Baseball, he leads in home runs (14), RBI’s (38), and walks (25). Another stat that stands about Espinosa’s recent hot streak is that he had a .418 on-base percentage in June, which was a major jump from what it was in May (.283).

The run that Espinosa has been on lately has been impressive to say the least. If you told anybody that Espinosa would have the most home runs of any Washington Nationals player after July 3, no one would believe he’d have more homers than the reigning NL MVP, Bryce Harper.

Next: Nats Rout Reds 12-1 In Strasburg's Return

While it may be too late for Espinosa to earn a spot to the All-Star Game in San Diego since the team is being announced on Tuesday night, Espinosa is definitely making a late push. For now, Trea Turner is learning how to play center field at triple-A Syracuse as Espinosa has secured that everyday starting shortstop spot for the foreseeable future.

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