The A’s Josh Reddick has been named co-American League Player of the Week with Houston’s Jose Altuve, marking the third such career honor for Oakland’s right fielder.
“That’s a nice honor to have. A feather in your cap,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Really hasn’t been a week for us. He’s been swinging it well the whole season. It would be nice to see him get a few more of those.”
Reddick entered Monday batting .391 with four home runs and 20 RBIs. Three of those homers came from April 27 to May 3. He had 11 hits, drove in 12 runs and scored eight times in that span.
“I saw his numbers on the Internet because he was Player of the Week, and he’s playing really good,” said Altuve, who hit .467 during the week. “I think he should have won it by himself. He’s doing a tremendous job.”
Reddick hit 32 home runs in his first season with the A’s, but has yet to find a consistent stride since, and myriad injuries haven’t helped.
“I feel like I’ve matured a lot with going with pitches and not trying to yank everything,” he said. “Like I’ve said in the past, the obvious big thing is keeping the long ball out of the thought process, and I’m doing a really good job of clearing my mind of that early on.
“There are still times I’ll go into the box and think, ‘A home run would be really nice here.’ It’s still mostly see-the-ball-and-hit-it, but I’m a lot better now of laying off of the stuff that’s away early and rolling it over than I was in the past.”
Said Melvin: “I think it’s more just maturing as a hitter and his approach that’s giving him the ability to do what he’s doing right now.”