Astros Minor League Player and Pitchers of the Week: Week 16

It's time to look back at Week 16 and acknowledge some winning performances for the week commencing Sunday, July 13th and continuing through Saturday, July 19th.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Yet again, there were a number of excellent performances for the week: Corpus Christi's Andrew Aplin and Telvin Nash; Lancaster's Conrad Gregor, Rio Ruiz and Danry Vasquez; Quad Cities' Brett Phillips; Tri-City's Bobby Boyd; Greeneville's Jacob Nottingham and Ydarqui Marte; the GCL's Hector Roa; and Frankeny Fernandez and Andy Pineda in the DSL.

But there were two clear standouts for the week. First off, our runner-up has eight home runs this season, three of those coming in the last week!

1B Chase McDonald (Quad Cities)

.409/.480/.864 in 6 games
5R 2B 3HR 6RBI 2BB 1SO

Our winner has not only had a good week, he is also having a very solid season in the DSL where he has played at a variety of positions, hitting .331/.446/.446 over his first 38 games. He is a 19-year old switch-hitter from Panama.

LF/DH/2B/SS Rodrigo Ayarza (DSL)

.444/.583/.778 in 5 games
6R 3-2B HR 5RBI 6BB 1SO 2SH 3SB 0CS
1 Outfield Assist

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rodrigo Ayarza

Photo Not Available

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STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK

I try to limit my nominees to those who have pitched a minimum of either five innings or two outings, but that shouldn't discount excellent shorter outings from Greeneville's Joshua James and Tri-City's Brandon McNitt. Those who fit my parameters and who were considered for their work from last week included Oklahoma City's Mike Foltynewicz; Corpus Christi's Kyle Smith and Luis Cruz; Lancaster's Josh Hader and Kent Emanuel; Tri-City's Troy Scribner; the GCL's Elieser Hernandez; and Carlos Pizzolata in the DSL. A special shoutout goes to Chris Devenski who had two great outings last week, including Saturday's game in which he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning.

There is virtually no information available on my runner-up, an 18-year old righty in the DSL, but what we do know is that he has had a very respectable start to his career. In 9 starts, he is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.154 WHIP.

RHP Albert Abreu (DSL) - 1 win
0.00 ERA/0.500 WHIP
6.0IP (1 game) 1H 2BB 5SO

My winner went just a little bit deeper into his game on Saturday and was just a little bit more dominant. For the season, he is 6-2 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.175 WHIP in 17 games (12 starts).

RHP Michael Feliz (Quad Cities) - 1 win

0.00 ERA/0.857 WHIP
7IP (1 game) 3H 3BB 8SO

STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP MICHAEL FELIZ

Michael Feliz - June 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

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RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK

I honestly wish I'd never started this category. The list of honorable mentions is downright ridiculous: Oklahoma City's Jason Stoffel; Corpus Christi's Mitch Lambson, Richard Rodriguez and Tyson Perez; Lancaster's Daniel Minor; Quad Cities' Albert Minnis and Aaron Vaughn; Tri-City's Jordan Mills, Bryan Radziewski and Raul Rivera; Greeneville's Krishawn Holley; Samil de los Santos and Alejandro Solarte in the GCL; and Luis Arias, Gabriel Valdez and Josue Uribe in the DSL.

After weeding through all of last week's performances, I still have FIVE nominees! Deciding among these is exceedingly difficult. They are, in no particular order, as follows:

RHP Eric Peterson (Greeneville) - 1 win
0.00 ERA/.0.818 WHIP/.091 BA
3.2IP (2 games) 1H 2BB 6SO

RHP Angel Heredia (Greeneville) - 1 win & 1 save
0.00 ERA/0.600 WHIP/.100 BA
3.1IP (2 games) 1H 1BB 4SO
2 inherited runners/0 scored

RHP Justin Ferrell (GCL)
0.00 ERA/0.375 WHIP/.111 BA
2.2IP (1 game) 1H 0BB 2SO
3 inherited runners/0 scored

LHP Kevin Chapman - 1 win & 1 save
0.00 ERA/0.375 WHIP/.111 BA
2.2IP (2 games) 1H 0BB 6SO
2 inherited runners/0 scored

All of those were worthy candidates, but I ended up going with perfection.

RHP Juan Delis (GCL) - 1 win & 1 save
0.00 ERA/0.000 WHIP/.000 BA
2.0IP (2 games) 0H 0BB 2SO

RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP JUAN DELIS

Juan Delis

Photo Courtesy of Bryan Green