08/04/2008 4:58 PM ET
Ludwick named NL Player of the Week
Cards outfielder hit .538 with four homers, eight RBIs last week
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
Slugger Ryan Ludwick drove in a run in six of his seven games last week. (Jeff Roberson/AP)
This is about as feel-good as feel-good stories get. For eight years since being a second-round pick in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Ryan Ludwick was almost an afterthought.
He put on four different uniforms before the 2007 season, suffered a fractured hip that would set him back tremendously and, before the Cardinals took a chance on the 6-foot-3 UNLV product in 2007, his Major League stat line in eight years read like this: .237 batting average, 14 home runs and 44 RBIs in just 104 games.
Meet the new Ludwick. He's healthy now -- "Knock on wood," he said -- he rakes at the plate and he's giving a whole new meaning to the word "sleeper."
Last year, he showed the Cardinals he's capable of being a Major League outfielder. This season, he solidified a spot in the starting lineup. And last week, he continued to show the baseball nation he's one of the best in the league.
Ludwick hit .538 (14-for-26) with four home runs and eight RBIs in his past seven games en route to being named the Bank of America National League Player of the Week for the first time in his career -- a career destined to include more hardware if he continues to stay healthy.
Also nominated for the award were: Ludwick's Cardinals teammates Joe Mather (.290, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Yadier Molina (.385, 10 H, 5 RBI); Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (.400, 5 HR, 6 RBI) and Jeff Suppan (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP); Philadelphia's Chase Utley (.364, 3 HR, 6 RBI) and Brad Lidge (4 SV, 1 H, 5 SO); Colorado's Matt Holliday (.385, 4 HR, 6 RBI) and Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 SO); Aramis Ramirez (.333, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and Alfonso Soriano (.414, 3 HR, 4 RBI) of the Cubs; Florida's John Baker (.381, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and Josh Willingham (.435, 4 2B, 5 RBI); Damion Easley (.316, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and Jose Reyes (.407, 11 H, 2 SB) of the Mets; Houston's Carlos Lee (.318, 2 HR, 7 RBI), Kazuo Matsui (.360, 2 HR, 2 RBI) and Hunter Pence (.409, 1 HR, 3 RBI); San Francisco's Barry Zito (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 SO); Cincinnati's Adam Dunn (.682 SLG, 3 HR, 6 RBI); San Diego's Greg Maddux (2-0, 4.09 ERA, 5 SO); Chad Billingsley (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 SO) of the Dodgers; and Ryan Doumit of the Pirates (.500, 4 2B, 4 RBI).
Ludwick named NL Player of the Week | StLCardinals.com: News
Ludwick named NL Player of the Week
Ludwick named NL Player of the Week
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