For this piece, I will highlight the top performers at the plate and on the mound from the previous week of play. Below is the hotlist for Week Twelve. Here is last week’s Hotlist.
Who’s Hot At The Plate?
John Garcia – Garcia has had a great month of June and after a good week last week, this week he was even better. The 23-year-old catcher hit .417 with a double, four homers and nine runs batted in. Overall this season he is hitting .303 with 9 homers, 34 RBI and a .900 OPS in 53 games.
Shay Whitcomb – It wouldn’t be a hotlist without an appearance from Shay Whitcomb. He has yet to cool off and put together another good week for Sugar Land. The 25-year-old hit .346 with a double, 2 homers and 7 runs batted in. Even more impressive was the 4 BB/2 SO in 6 games. He has a .961 OPS with a system leading 17 home runs this season.
Nehomar Ochoa – Ochoa is playing this year as an 18-year-old and has seen his ups and downs, and this week was definitely up. In five games for the Woodpeckers, Ochoa hit .381 with a double 2 homers and 8 runs batted in. It was his best week of the season so far.
Will Wagner – Wagner missed some time but came back this week and picked up right where he left off. The 25-year-old hit .389 with a double, a homer and 5 runs batted in. Overall this season he is hitting .311 with a .422 OBP in 51 games in Sugar Land.
Kenni Gomez – Gomez has quietly put together a nice year in Fayetteville as a teenager. In 6 games this week, the 19-year-old hit .300 with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 runs batted in. He also had 4 BB/2 SO. He is hitting .252 overall this season and leads the Woodpeckers in total bases.
Who’s Hot On The Mound?
A.J. Blubaugh – Bloss got a lot of the hype this year, and rightfully so, but Blubaugh is right behind him. This week the right-hander made one start and went 6.1 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. He has a 3.36 ERA with 61 K in 64.1 innings this season between Double-A and Triple-A.
Jackson Nezuh – Nezuh has been nearly unhittable since the beginning of May and turned in a great start this week. The right-hander went 6 innings allowing 2 hits, 1 run and racked up 6 strikeouts. He’s held hitters to just a .118 BAA over his last 8 appearances.
Alain Pena – The 21-year-old Pena has been a really nice find. This week, the right-hander appeared in two games and struck out 13 over 10 innings allowing 3 runs. Overall this season, he has a 3.00 ERA with 20 walks to 65 strikeouts in 60 innings in Single-A.
Ryan Gusto – After a strong spring, I thought Gusto had a chance to make his MLB debut this year. He got off to a rough start but has been better recently. This week the right-hander went 5 innings allowing 1 run. He has allowed 4 runs over his last 16 innings with 14 strikeouts.
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