Kayson Cunningham is officially a professional baseball player.
Safe to say that he would have liked his debut to go differently, but it is what it is. This past Tuesday, he found himself starting at shortstop and batting second for the Visalia Rawhide. He struck out swinging and committed multiple errors before he collected his first hit. For the week, he had five singles and a walk.
He was joined in the group of players making their organizational debuts by pitchers Sawyer Hawks, Alex Galvan, and
Tayler Montiel. Hawks pitched a perfect inning, Galvan walked one, and Montiel allowed two hits but also struck out two.
The Week That Was
Reno saw their record losing streak reach 12 games before they finally picked up a win. They ended the week in winning fashion, but still just took two of six in Salt Lake. Amarillo, who has not lost a series since June, picked up their sixth series win in a row in San Antonio. Hillsboro split in Eugene, but Visalia dropped five of six at Inland Empire to effectively end any postseason hopes. The season also came to an end in losing fashion in the DSL, although the DSL Red squad did win one of two postseason games.
Overall, affiliates were outscored 149-142.
Batter of the Week
A.J. Vukovich, Reno (18 PA, .533/.611/1.200, 3 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, .578 RC/PA)
It’s rare that a batter does so well in a smaller number of plate appearances that they can earn the Batter of the Week honor, but Vukovich was also named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week. It’s an astonishing turn for Vukovich, who spent the first two months of the season looking like a candidate for a midseason release. Through June 1, Vukovich was slashing .232/.278/.457, striking out 36.4% of the time and walking just 5.56% of the time. Nor could it be blamed on BABIP; his BABIP of .310 was perfectly respectable.
After seeing limited action for the first half of June, he was placed on the Development List after the game on June 17th, but pulled off it and placed back into the regular lineup due to an injury to Cristian Pache. Since his return on June 21st, Vukovich has slashed .339/.421/.596 while striking out just 22.3% of the time and walking 12.2% of the time. He’s been so much better than this wRC+ for the season is back to 100 despite the dismal start. Yes, he’s got a .412 BABIP over that span, but he’s been a high-BABIP player at every level, and this isn’t so high as to be a big concern. He now looks more like a potential September callup. Truly an astonishing turnaround.
Starting Pitcher of the Week
Daniel Eagen, Amarillo (7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K)
This makes three weeks in a row for Eagen, and it’s well-earned yet again. The first week saw him pitch six hitless innings and retire 18 in a row. He had a better game score the next week, and he replicated that game score of 82 this past week despite being moved up a level and pitching in the much less-friendly Texas League. These were pressure-filled innings as well, as the Soddies didn’t manage any run support for Eagen (they wound up losing 1-0 in extra innings) so any mistake he made had the potential to lose the game.
Relief Pitchers of the Week
- Taylor Rashi, Reno (3 G, W, S, 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K)
- Landon Sims, Amarillo (2 G, 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 5 K)
Rashi was a workhorse for the Aces, throwing 82 pitches across his three appearances. He was at his best as he collected the win on Thursday in Salt Lake, striking out six of the eight batters he faced.
Sims was lights-out in his two appearances, recording five of his six outs via the strikeout and allowing just a walk.
Next Up
Affiliates all return home this week. Reno will host Sacramento, Amarillo will see Northwest Arkansas, Hillsboro will welcome the Vancouver Canadians, and Visalia will host San Jose. These will be the final home games for Hillsboro and Visalia, meaning that they will be the final games played in Hillsboro Ballpark
