Eric Stephen is the managing editor of True Blue LA, where he's covered the Dodgers since 2009, and the co-host of the Three-Inning Save podcast. He's on Twitter at @ericstephen.
Hitting .500 or higher for two weeks in a row earned Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani the National League player of the week award for two weeks in a row, just the second player in team history to capture consecutive honors.
Ohtani hit .520/.571/.800 last week for the Dodgers with a home run and four stolen bases to cap off his 54-homer, 59-steal season. Ohtani scored six runs and drove in seven last week, including the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning on Thursday to help clinch the NL West.
On Friday, Ohtani also had his 16th game with at least one home run and one stolen base to extend his own record for one season. That same night, he broke Ichiro Suzuki's record for most steals in one year by a player born in Japan. Those are just two of the many records set by Ohtani this season.
Ohtani is the first Dodger to win player of the week four times in one season, also taking home the honor for the week of April 29-May 5 , the week of June 17-23, and last week when he joined the 50-50 club.
Winning two straight player of the week awards is rare in Dodgers history, done only four times previously:
Kemp also won during the final week of the 2011 season, giving him three straight awards. He and Ohtani are the only Dodgers to win the award consecutively.