ALBERS POW Week XVIII

By GEORGE FARELLI
Canadian Baseball Network
Lefty Andrew Albers was close to being unhittable when he took the mound for the Gwinnett Braves against the Charlotte Knights.

Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) pitched eight scoreless innings on the way to a 2-0 win over the Charlotte Knights before 10,363 fans at BB&T Ballpark.

But then large crowds are no surprise to Albers, who made 12 starts in the majors with the Minnesota Twins (10 in 2013 and two last year).  Nine times Albers made starts and morre than 30,000 showed in 2013.

Albers allowed five hits including a triple and four singles in his brilliant outing, while fanning 10 including 1B Casey Gillaspie, DH Danny Hayes and Eddy Alvarez twice  each.

For Albers it was his 11th win equalling his 2013 season when he went 11-5 for triple-A Rochester.

He threw 103 pitches striking out 10, as well as retiring five hitters on ground outs and four on fly outs. Albers has worked eight inning five of his last six outinging.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK: C-2B Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, Ont.) - Quebec Capitales, for the second time this season was named Offensive Player of the Week in the IND Can Am League.
 
BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player Ab R H HR RBI AVG. 
Ben Pelletier - Rkie GCL Phillies        23   2   11   -    4   .478
Vladimir Guerrero - A Dunedin         17   5   7   1   2   .412
Jared Young - A Eugene               13   5   5   -    1   .385
Connor Panas - A Dunedin            24   4    9   3   9   .375
Jake Lumley - Rkie AZL Athletics        17   3    6   -    3   .353

Bruce Yari - A Dayton                24   3    8    2   6   .333
Jordan Procyshen - AA Portland        16   5    5   2   2   .313
Cole Bauml - A West Michigan         29   9    9   -    6   .310
Otto Lopez - Rkie GCL Blue Jays        20   2    6   -    2   .300
 
Phil Craig-St. Louis - IND Quebec       28   5   11   1   2   .393
Larry Balkwill - IND Windy City         17   2    6    1   3   .353
Jordan Lennerton - IND Quebec        30   2   10    1   4   .333
Michael Crouse - IND New Britain       21   4   7    1   1   .333
(Minimum 10 At Bats required.)
 
BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
ANDREW ALBERS  LHP  -  AAA  GWINNETT BRAVES
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L S WHIP WK ERA
1 8.0 5 - - 1 10 1-0 - 0.75 0.00
 
Another excellent start for the Braves this week by Andrew Albers, who continues to prove that Atlanta made a very wise off season decision in signing him as a Free Agent. On Aug. 5th in a 2-0 shutout win over the Charlotte Knights he pitched eight innings, gave up five base hits and zero runs while striking out 10 Knights batters, to pick up his eleventh win of the season. This outing improved his overall record with Triple A Gwinnett in 25 appearances, to 11-3 with a 2.72 ERA. 

DYLAN RHEAULT  RHP  -  A  SAN JOSE GIANTS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L S WHIP WK ERA
3 2.1 - - - - 1 - 3 0.00 0.00
 
Dylan Rheault continues on a path of remarkable consistency and this week made three more relief appearances for the San Jose Giants, all of which resulted in a save. On Aug. 2nd in a 3-0 win over Visalia Rawhide he tossed one scoreless inning, gave up zero hits and while striking out one Visalia batter to pick up a save. On Aug. 4th in a 10-8 victory over Inland Empire 66’ers the pitched 1/3 third of an inning, allowed one hit and zero runs to earn another save. On Aug. 8th in a 3-2 win over Inland Empire he pitched one scoreless inning, gave up no base hits and no runs, to secure his third save of the week. These three closing efforts improved his record in the Class A California League in 45 appearances with San Jose, to 2-1 with 19 Saves and a 2.49 ERA. 

LANDON LEACH  RHP  -  RKIE  GULF COAST TWINS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L S WHIP WK ERA
2 3.2 5 2 1 2 3 1-0 - 2.19 2.81
 
Landon Leach was selected in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, and this week the 18 year old Pickering, Ont. native made his professional debut with two appearances for the Gulf Coast Twins. On Aug. 1 in a 5-3 win over the GCL Rays he threw 2/3 of an inning, gave up no base hits and one unearned run while striking out one Rays batter, but was not involved in the decision. On Aug. 5th in a 12-4 victory over the GCL Red Sox he tossed three innings, surrendered five base hits and one earned run while striking out two Red Sox hitters, and picked up his first win in the pro ranks. His record in the Rookie Class Gulf Coast League now stands at 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA.

PLAYER  MOVES  &  TRANSACTIONS
LHP  Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.)  -  Recalled to Major League Roster by Chicago Cubs from Triple A Iowa Cubs, did not appear in a big league game and was optioned back to Iowa. 
 
LHP  Andrew Case (St. John, NB)  -  Moved by the Toronto Blue Jays to Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Triple A Buffalo Bisons.
 
RHP  Landon Leach (Pickering Ont.)  -  2017 Second Round Draft Pick is activated by the Minnesota Twins at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Twins.
 
OF  Michael Saunders (Victoria, BC  -  Placed on the Disabled List by Toronto Blue Jays at Triple A Buffalo Bisons.
 
OF  Tanner Kirwer  (Sherwood Park, Alta.)  -  Placed on the Disabled List by Toronto Blue Jays at Rookie Class Bluefield Blue Jays.
 
 
 
LHP  Jon Fitzsimmons (London, Ont.)  -  Free Agent re signs with the Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.
 
2B  Austin Marcellus (Oshawa, Ont.)  -  Contract purchased by Ottawa Champions IND Can Am League from California City Whiptails IND Pecos League.

RHP  Jaspreet Shergill (Vaughan, Ont.)  -  Released by Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.

 

 
2017 Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week

Week I _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week II _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Lehigh Valley (Phillies).

Week III _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week IV _ 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Lake Elisnore (Padres).

Week V _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

 

Week VI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners).

Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays).

Week VIII _ 1B Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) Dayton Dragons (Reds).  

Week VIV _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)

Week X _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)

 

Week XI _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Week XII _ OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) Rookie-class Billings (Reds)

Week XIII _ RP Dylan Rheault (Garson, Ont.) class-A San Jose (Giants).

Week XIV _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers).

Week XV _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Week XVI _ 3B-C Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que.) Tri-City ValleyCats (Astros.)

Week XVII _ CF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) triple-A Memphis Redbirds (Cards) and LF Brett Siddalll (Windsor, Ont.) class-A Stockton Ports (A’s).
 
Week XVIII _ LHP Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) triple-A Gwinnett (Braves.)