Jeff McNeil/Photo by Rick Nelson/MiLB.com

Binghamton Rumble Ponies infielder Jeff McNeil was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending May 20, 2018.  This is the first time in his career McNeil has been named a Player of the Week, but with the way he has been hitting this season, this will certainly not be his last.

Over the past week, McNeil was 14-36 with a double, five homers, and 13 RBI.  In that eight game stretch, McNeil had at least one hit in seven of the eight games, and he had at least two hits in five of those games.  The real highlight of the week was Thursday’s game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.  In that game, McNeil was 4-6 with a homer and four RBI.  That game would also prove to be the second game in a stretch where he homered in four straight games.

With that game, and this stretch, from a purely stats based perspective, McNeil has become THE power hitter in the Eastern League.  McNeil is tied for first in the league in homers, and he leads the league in SLG.  That puts him ahead of big time prospects like Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and his teammate Peter Alonso.  McNeil is also second in the league in OPS and total bases trailing just Guerrero.

McNeil is joined by his teammate Alonso (week ending April 29th) as Binghamton players who have won Player of the Week awards this season.