Taty Castellanos named MLS Player of the Week

New York City FC striker Taty Castellanos was named MLS Player of the Week after scoring four goals on Sunday as New York City rolled to a 6-0 win over Real Salt Lake. Castellanos is just the 15th player to score four goals or more in the history of MLS, and the first to pull off the feat since July 2020.

It wasn't just the first MLS goals scored this season by the 2021 Golden Boot winner, it was a return to form for Castellanos, who has looked somewhat adrift since this year. Earlier this month, Castellanos told Hudson River Blue that “the goals will come.” He delivered on his promise, scoring two goals from open play and converting two penalties:

Castellanos was also named to the MLS Team of the Week, naturally:

But wait, there’s more. The hardest-working striker in MLS was given a near-perfect rating of 9.7 by FotMob:

Courtesy FotMob.com

Honors and accolades like these don't make or break a professional athlete, or at least they shouldn't—a player the caliber of Castellanos will work hard for the team no matter whose name gets promoted on the MLS homepage. But the recognition must give an emotional lift to a player who maybe didn’t expect to still be playing in MLS, and a team that has struggled to find their stride.