Another week of baseball is in the books. Let’s look at some news and notes. I will start by listing a few players who have been hot over the last week.
Who’s hot?
Shay Whitcomb – The 5th round pick from 2020, Whitcomb, had a monster week. He hit .409 with 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI and stole 2 bases. Whitcomb had a breakout 2021 but people wanted to see him at the higher levels. Through 14 games in Double-A he is hitting .327 with 3 HR, 10 RBI as he is off to a hot start.
Nerio Rodriguez – Rodriguez has quietly put together a great start to the season. Rodriguez was 7-for-15 this week with 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI. Overall this season he is hitting .333 with 6 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI. The 22 year old may not be long for High-A is he continues at this pace.
Joey Loperfido – Loperfido was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round of the 2021 draft. He turned it on last week going 8-for-20 (.400 BA) with 2 RBI. He also had 2 HR in the last game of last week. Overall, he is hitting .313 and is tied for third in hits in the Astros system this season.
Sugar Land Space Cowboys
The Space Cowboys had a great week going 5-1 putting them at 8-10 for the season. There were some strong pitching performances this week. Hunter Brown had another great outing striking out 8 over 5 innings (19 K in 13.2 innings). Shawn Dubin made a start and struck out 5 over 2 innings and was followed up by 4 scoreless innings from Brandon Bielak. Brett Conine and J.P. France (20 K in 12.2 innings) both pitched well in the win on Sunday.
The bright spot this week was the offense scoring 36 runs in 6 games. Korey Lee had a good couple games and now has 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI this season. Pedro Leon leads the Astros system in RBI with 12. He also has 6 doubles and 2 HR. He and David Hensley also have 4 SB each. The Space Cowboys look to extend their hot stretch tonight at 7:05 CT.
Corpus Christi Hooks
The Hooks are currently at 6-9 after going 3-3 this week. Jimmy Endersby led the way with a great starting tossing 5.2 scoreless innings. Misael Tamarez also had a good start tossing 5 scoreless innings. The bullpen was solid Saturday which led to a walk-off win by the Hooks. Joe Record continued his hot pitching and now has a 0.00 ERA in 6 games. Melendez had a better outing and has 17 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
On offense, the Hooks were led by Shay Whitcomb who won player of the week hitting .409 with 2 2B, 2 HR, and 2 SB. He’s hitting .327 with 3 HR, 10 RBI this season. Yainer Diaz got things going on offense and is now hitting .283 with 9 RBI this season. Justin Dirden leads the team in doubles with 6 and Ross Adolph lead the team in walks with 14. The Hooks are back in action at 7:05 CT tonight.
Asheville Tourists
Another rough week for the Tourists going 1-5 and are now 2-13 on the season. The pitching got a standout performance this week with Adrian Chaidez tossing 6 perfect innings with 9 strikeouts. Aaron Brown has had a good start to the season with a 2.77 ERA and 16 K in 13 innings. Derek West continues to kill it in relief with 9 K in 4.1 scoreless innings.
The offense has been led by Will Wagner who is hitting .313 with 3 HR, 12 RBI this season. Nerio Rodriguez picked things up this week and is hitting .333 with 6 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI. Michael Sandle has started out well hitting .294. Unfortunately, the offense has had some slow games this week and the Tourists overall are slashing .200/.304/.327. The Tourists are back at it tonight at 5:35 CT with Chayce McDermott on the mound.
Fayetteville Woodpeckers
The Woodpeckers were solid this week going 3-3 which puts them at 5-10 on the season. One night this week Carlos Calderon struck out 7 over 5 innings and Ernesto Jaquez closed it out striking out 10 over 4 innings. Jaquez has 24 K in 15 innings this season. Santos had a strong outing this week too striking out 8 over 4 scoreless innings. Betances has been solid in relief striking out 16 over 8.1 innings.
The offense has been up and down. Leosdany Molina leads the team in hits with 16. Loperfido had a strong week hitting .400. Quincy Hamilton and Logan Cerny each have 10 RBI. Mascai has 2 HR, 9 RBI and had a few big hits this season. They have been running a lot though with Hallmark stealing 8 bases, Cerny with 6 and Molina with 5. Young catch Miguel Palma has a .808 OPS so far this year. The Woodpeckers are back at it at 5:05 CT.
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