Brewers' rookie adds another impressive award to his trophy case

What a week it has been for the Milwaukee Brewers' rookie outfielder, Isaac Collins. Last Monday, Collins was named NL Rookie of the Month for the month of July after posting an impressive .847 OPS in the month. Then on Sunday afternoon, in the Brewers' series finale against the New York Mets, Collins called game with his first-ever walk-off, a home run off 3x All-Star Edwin Díaz to extend his team's winning streak to nine games.

Now, add to that impressive resume Collins' first-ever NL Player of the Week Award. MLB announced on the social media platform X on Monday afternoon that Collins was deemed the best player in the entire National League over the last week. Collins becomes the third Brewer to win the award this season, joining William Contreras, who won on April 14, and Christian Yelich, who took home the honor on June 2. Additionally, according to MLB.com, Collins is the first Brewers rookie to win NL Player of the Week since Keston Hiura won the award in July of 2019.

Isaac Collins adds an NL Player of the Week Award to his rapidly growing resume

Surely motivated by positive reinforcement, Collins turned around after being named the NL Rookie of the Month and in the following week went 10-for-21 with five extra-base hits. Included in those extra-base hits were the walk-off homer that he hit against the Mets yesterday afternoon, the homer he hit in Atlanta last Monday, two doubles, and a triple. In addition, Collins drove in eight runs, scored six of his own, and posted an otherworldly 1.529 OPS.

Collins' latest honor continues what has been an incredible breakout season for the 28-year-old infielder turned outfielder. Not only is he raking at the plate, but he's second on the Brewers in Outs Above Average while manning a position that he was faintly familiar with prior to this season.

With several awards already to his name this season, there's no reason why Collins' name should not be at the center of the NL Rookie of the Year conversation. It's bound to be an exciting race between Collins and Wisconsin-native Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves, who is having an impressive rookie campaign of his own. With Jacob Misiorowski set to miss a little time on the IL, his chances have decreased, but a strong finish to the season would put his name right back in the conversation with Collins and Baldwin.

Regardless of who ends up taking home the NL Rookie of the Year Award at the end of the season, the production that the Brewers have gotten from Collins this year is nothing short of amazing. Collins is the epitome of Brewers baseball as someone whose hard work and resilience led him to even have a shot at the big leagues. Now, as the recognition pours in, that determination is paying off.