You can argue that three home runs and six RBIs — as Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) had — was worthy.

Or you could argue that three homers and 10 RBIs — as Jamie Romak(London, Ont.) — has is enough.

Yet, it’s tough to argue with RP Jasvir Rakkar picked up a win and a save in four scoreless innings of work. With this week he ran his scoreless string to seven straight and earned him Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week honors as the best of the 51 Canucks in the minors.

Rakkar pitched two scoreless innings for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in a 4-2 win over the Salem Red Sox before 2,025 fans at TicketReturn.com Field in Myrtle Beach. The Pelicans had offensive help from 2B Wes Darvill (Langley, BC) who hit a solo homer in the first and later singled. Both Canucks came into the Cubs fold under scouting director Tim Wilken.

Three days later Rakkar pitched a scoreless ninth and a put up a zero in the 10th in a 3-2 win over the Winston-Salem Dash at BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem.

Rakkar, signed by Cubs scout Matt Sherman, is 1-0 with a 1.37 ERA in 11 games compiling five saves. He’s walked three and struck out 14 in 19 2/3 innings, holding opponents to a .197 average.

He isn’t the first player of Indian heritage to play pro ball. Two pitchers, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel signed minor league contracts with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008 after winning a reality TV show in India called The Million Dollar Arm.

Rakkar took the honor over Mike Reeves (Peterborough, Ont.) .466 average and two RBIs; Jordan Procyshen (Calgary, Alta.) one RBI, .438, O’Neill and Romak.

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES FOR WEEK FIVE -
Player / Class / Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Mike Reeves – A Dunedin 11 1 5 – 2 .455
Jordan Procyshen A Greenville 16 1 7 – 1 .438
Jesse Hodges – A South Bend 16 4 6 1 2 .375
Tyler O’Neill – A Bakersfield 21 4 7 3 6 .333
Marcus Knecht – A Ft. Myers 16 2 5 – 1 .313
Dalton Pompey – AAA Buffalo 29 5 9 – 3 .310
Jamie Romak – AAA Reno 23 7 7 3 10 .304
Pete Orr – AAA Colorado Springs 23 8 7 1 4 .304
Kellin Deglan – A High Desert 14 2 4 1 6 .286
Wes Darvill – A Myrtle Beach 18 4 5 1 2 .278
(Minimum 10 AB’s required.)

BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES FOR WEEK FIVE -
JASVIR RAKKAR RHP – SINGLE A MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 4.0 1 – – – 2 1-0 1 0.25 0.00
Rakkar had another excellent week as the closer for the Pelicans, picking up a win and a save in two game appearances. On May 6th in a 4-2 victory over the Salem Red Sox he pitched two scoreless innings, surrendered no base hits and struck out one Salem batter, to pick up his fourth save of the season. On May 9th in a 10 inning 3-2 win over Winston Salem Dash, he tossed two strong innings, gave up just one base hit and no runs, while striking out one Dash hitter to earn his first win of the year. His overall record with Myrtle Beach in the Single A Carolina League, now stands at 1-0, with four saves with an excellent 0.75 ERA.

EVAN RUTCKYJ LHP – SINGLE A TAMPA YANKEES
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 2.2 2 – – – 3 1-0 – 0.91 0.00
Pitching out of the bullpen for Tampa Yankees Evan Rutckyj made two more appearances this week, and has now relieved in a total of 11 games thus far in 2014. On May 7th in an 8-4 loss to Brevard County Manatees, he pitched one scoreless inning gave up only one base hit, struck out one Manatee hitter but was not involved in
the decision. On May 11th in a 4-2 victory over St. Lucie Mets, he tossed 1 2/3 innings, surrendered just one hit, while striking out two Mets batters to earn his second win of the season. His overall record with Tampa in the Florida State League is now 2-0 with 2.45 ERA.

DUSTIN MOLLEKEN RHP – TRIPLE A COLUMBUS CLIPPERS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 2.0 – – – – 2 – – 0.00 0.00
Business as usual this week for Dustin Molleken the veteran Columbus Clippers reliever, with two more excellent appearances. On May 8th in a 7-0 win over Pawtucket Red Sox he pitched one inning, gave up no hits and no runs with one strikeout, but was not involved in the decision. On May 11th in a 6-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs he had the same line score, no hits and one strikeout, but again he was not involved in the decision. His overall Clippers record this year in the International
League is now 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA.

SHANE DAWSON LHP – SINGLE A LANSING LUGNUTS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 5.0 8 5 5 1 5 1-0 – 1.20 9.00
At first glance, Shane Dawson’s numbers in the above line score may not seem that efficient, but he showed some strong resolve in this game and hung in to secure the win. On May 7th in an 8-5 victory over the Ft. Wayne Tin Cups, he pitched five innings gave up eight base hits and five earned runs, while striking out five Ft. Wayne batters to earn his third win of the season. His Midwest League record for Single A Lansing this season is now 3-2 with a 2.89 ERA.

Player Movement and Transactions Week V -
LHP Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) – Activated from Temporary Inactive List by the Philadelphia Phillies at Triple A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

C George Kottaras (Markham, Ont.) – Activated from the Disabled List by Chicago White Sox at Triple A Charlotte Knights.

OF Trevor Gretzky (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) – Activated by Los Angeles Angels at Single A Burlington Bees.

INF Skyler Stromsmoe (Etzikom, Alta.) – Moved by the San Francisco Giants from Triple A Sacramento River Cats to Extended Spring Training Facility in Arizona.

RHP Chris Leroux (Montreal, Que.) – Placed on the Disabled List by the Milwaukee Brewers at Triple A Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

RHP Chris Cox (St. George, Ont.) – Released by Trois Rivieres Eagles IND Can Am League.

RHP Francois Lafreniere (St. Bruno, Que.) – Released by Trois Rivieres Eagles IND Can Am League.

INF Tommy Richards (Toronto, Ont.) – Released by Gateway Grizzlies IND Frontier League.

Previous POWs

Week IV _ Kellin Deglan (Langley, BC)

Week III _ Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ont.)

Week II _ Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC)

Week I _ Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.)