May 23, 2024

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

After a dominant outing against the Salem Red Sox on Saturday, Augusta GreenJackets RHP Adam Maier has been named the Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week.

The 22-year-old tossed six scoreless innings against the Red Sox, allowing just three hits, while striking out eight without walking a batter in the GreenJackets’ 7-5 victory.

For Maier (North Vancouver, BC) it was his seventh start of the season for the GreenJackets, the Atlanta Braves’ single-A affiliate, and his first against the Red Sox.

Maier started strong, getting lead-off hitter and the Boston Red Sox’s fourth-ranked prospect Miguel Bleis to line out to centre before sitting down Antonio Anderson (18th ranked) and Marvin Alcantara via swinging strikes in the first inning.

The second inning saw Maier run into some early trouble after allowing a double and a single to put runners on first and third with none out. But a strikeout of Freili Encarnacion got Maier back on track before the GreenJackets helped out their pitcher by throwing out Nelly Taylor at home on a double-steal opportunity. This gave Maier two outs with a runner on second. The inning would end with Natanael Yuten flying out to centre field.

Maier added two more strikeouts in the third inning and would throw a clean fourth by getting all three batters to either line out or fly out.

A double off the bat of Jhostynxon Garcia opened the fifth and put Maier into a tough spot but once again the North Shore Twins and Junior National Team alum buckled down. Following Garcia’s hit, Maier sat down Encarnacion via a called strike before getting Yuten and Andy Lugo to pop out and ground out.

Heading into the sixth, Maier was working with a 4-0 lead and was able to get another strikeout when Juan Montero tipped a ball into the catcher's mitt for the first out of the inning. He would get the Bleis to ground out to third before striking out Anderson on five pitches to end his final inning.

Overall, Maier commanded the strike zone well. He threw 71 pitches and posted a 66.2% strike rate and did not walk a batter. His fastball was sitting in the low 90s and he was mixing in his slider and changeup effectively, with his offspeed offerings accounting for six of his career-high eight strikeouts.

For his efforts, Maier earned his second win of the season and dropped his ERA to 3.44 through 34 innings.

This is Maier’s first pro campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022.

Former winners

May 1 to May 6 – LHP Matt Wilkinson (Ladner, B.C.) , Guardians.

May 7 to May 12 – INF Charles LeBlanc (Laval, Que.) Angels.

May 13 to May 19 - RHP Adam Maier (North Vancouver, B.C.), Braves.

Top Canadian Minor League Performers – May 13 to May 19 

(Statistics compiled by Peter Berryman)

Hitters 

Pitchers