Astros Minor League Pitchers and Player of the Week: Week Three

[SIDE NOTE: OK, here's the deal. I had a really bad week last week and, among other things going wrong (like pretty much everything I touched), I screwed up some of the stats on last week's Player and Pitchers of the Week. I transposed some stats when I wrote them down and Vincent Velasquez did actually inch out David Martinez for the Pitcher of the Week last week, but since both of them had incredible weeks, I can live with granting a tie.

I apologize for the mistake. I try really hard to give you accurate information, but unfortunately I don't have an editor and things are going to slip through the cracks sometimes. Believe me, you couldn't possibly beat up on me any worse than I beat up on myself when I screw up. But I promise that when I do, I will do my best to correct any errors. Thank you for your indulgence as I publicly chastise myself.]

Now on to Week Three of my Player and Pitchers of the Week feature. The nominees and winners for the week beginning Sunday, 4/13 and running through Saturday, 4/19 are as follows:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

I really had a hard time narrowing down the nominees this week. 2B Kike Hernandez should be acknowledged for his good week at two levels. His last two games in Corpus left him with a .325/.372/.475 batting line at AA this season, and he came in like gangbusters in his first three games in Oklahoma City, hitting .500/.571/.583 (despite going hitless in his third game at the level). Also Quad Cities 3B Tyler White made the absolute most of 13 at-bats in 5 games, hitting a robust .462/.611/.615.

Here are some of the noteworthy performances for those playing in at least 6 games over last week. Stats are for the week only and are not cumulative for the season.

OF Jon Kemmer (Quad Cities)
.333/.385/.625
4R 8H 4-2B HR 5RBI 2BB 5SO

OF Preston Tucker (Corpus Christi)
.320/.320/.640
3R 8H 2-2B 2HR 2RBI 0BB 8SO
1 outfield assist

SS Carlos Correa (Lancaster)
.346/.379/.654
7R 9H 2B 2-3B HR 4RBI 2BB 4SO SB CS SF

3B Rio Ruiz (Lancaster)
.400/.429/.680
3R 10H 4-2B HR 6RBI 2BB 7SO SB E SF

But the winner was a complete no-brainer. Three doubles, a triple, two one-run home runs, one two-run home run and one three-run home run, nine runs scored and 10 RBI. Those are some seriously gaudy numbers.

1B Jon Singleton
.419/.471/.968
9R 13H 3-2B 3B 4HR 10RBI 3BB 8SO

Jon Singleton - June 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: 1B Jon Singleton

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STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK

Several of our tandem starters put up scoreless outings last week, including Kyle Smith, Lance McCullers, Michael Feliz and Gonzalo Sanudo. Matt Heidenreich's three-inning stint was perfect and he struck out five batters to boot. I'm going to start including Jose Cisnero in this category (rather than the relief pitcher category) since it appears that he is now in a tandem with Jake Buchanan as Paul Clemen's promotion to Houston left Buchanan without a partner. Like Heidenreich, Cisnero also put up a perfect three-inning appearance last week and he one-upped Heidenreich by getting six strikeouts.

For my nominees and winners, I chose from among those tandem starters who had two outings last week. Stats are for the week only and are not cumulative for the season.

RHP Andrew Thurman (Quad Cities) - 1 win
0.96 ERA/0.964 WHIP
9.1IP 8H 1R 1BB 13SO

RHP Nick Tropeano (Oklahoma City)
0.00 ERA/0.462 WHIP
8.2IP 3H 0R 1BB 6SO

What can top that you might ask? Well, this guy got one more out, one more strikeout and a win. Those are the ONLY differences.

RHP Aaron West (Corpus Christi) - 1 win
0.00 ERA/0.444 WHIP
9IP 3H 0R 1BB 7SO

Aaron West - June 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP AARON WEST

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RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK

In limiting the relief nominees, I went for those who either made two appearances or pitched multiple innings. Unfortunately, that leaves out a perfect inning from LHP Patrick Urckfitz in his first appearance of the season and two-out perfect outings from RHP Jorge de Leon and LHP Mitch Lambson. There were still several standouts. Again, stats are for the week only and are not cumulative.

RHP Jamaine Cotton (Lancaster) - 1 save
0.00 ERA/1.500 WHIP
2IP 2H 0R 1BB 1SO
2 inherited runners/2 scored

RHP Andrew Robinson (Corpus Christi)
0.00 ERA/1.500 WHIP
1.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 1SO
4 inherited runners/2 scored

RHP Zach Morton (Quad Cities) - 1 win
0.00 ERA/1.385 WHIP
4.1IP 3H 0R 3BB 2SO
1 inherited runner/0 scored

And the winner is my runner up from last week who made three relief appearances and stranded all four of his inherited runners.

RHP Tyler Brunnemann (Quad Cities)
0.00 ERA/0.429 WHIP
7IP 2H 0R 1BB 7SO
4 inherited runner/0 scored

Tyler Brunnemann

Photo courtesy of Susan Brunnemann

RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP Tyler Brunnemann