CBN POW, Week XVIII Otto Lopez
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
Otto Lopez is similar to former St. Louis Cardinals OF Oscar Taveras.
Both were born in the Dominican Republic, moved to Montreal and qualified for Canadian citizenship.
And now INF Lopez (Montreal, Que.) in his third pro season, led the 132 Canucks in the minors in hits this past week.
Lopez was signed in 2017 and landed with the rookie-class Gulf Coast Jays. Then, spent 2018 with rookie-class Bluefield and class-A Vancouver Canadians.
This season he is with the class-A Lansing Lugnuts and was impressive enough to win Canadian Baseball Network minor league player of the week honours for Week XVIII. Lopez had the most hits and the best average batting .379 (11-for-29) with four RBIs.
How the week that was went for Lopez as he:
_ Hit lead off and played short, going 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and two RBIs in a 10-8 10-inning win against the Lake County Captains before 3,511 fans at Classic Park. Lopez led off the game with his 12th double to left field, hit his third triple of the season -- a liner to right -- which scored CF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) -- singled to right in the sixth as Kirwer was thrown out on the play and singled to left in the two-run 10th. Kirwer had three hits for Lansing.
_ Playing shortstop and hitting lead off he singled in a 5-4 loss to Lake County in front of 1,948 fans at Classic Park. Lopez singled to centre in the third and was thrown out attempting to steal -- much like in the first inning when he walked and was thrown out. Kirwer added a single.
_ Leading off and playing short, he doubled in a 5-1 loss to Lake County before 5,553 fans at Classic Park. Lopez doubled to left in the seventh, his 13th.
_ Playing short and leading off he singled in a 3-1 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods in front of 4,127 at Bowling Green Ballpark. Lopez singled to short and scored in the eighth.
_ Hitting lead off and playing short he had two hits in a 3-1 loss to Bowling Green in the opening game of a doubleheader. Lopez singled to left leading off the game and singled to left in the fifth.
_ Playing short and leading off, he singled in a 6-3 win against Bowling Green in the nitecap before 4,544 at Bowling Green Ballpark. Lopez led off the three-run eighth with a bunt single. Kirwer singled.
Highlights of the Week - OF Gareth Morgan (Toronto, Ont.) - Active with Inland Empire 66’ers a Los Angeles Angels affiliate, was named class-A California
League Player of the Month for July, 2019.
His numbers for July.
GM AB R H HR RBI AVG
27 116 21 36 12 28 .310
RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) - Active with the Ottawa Champions was named IND Can Am League Pitcher of the Month for July, 2019.
His numbers for July.
GM W L SV ERA IP K
5 2 1 - 1.50 36.0 48
OF Raphael Gladu (Trois Rivieres, Que.) - Active with Trois Rivieres Aigles was named IND Can Am League Offensive Player of the Month for July, 2019.
His numbers for July.
GM AB R H HR RBI AVG
24 87 20 35 5 34 .402
Top offensive performances
Player / Class / Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Otto Lopez - A Lansing 29 2 11 - 4 .379
Demi Orimoloye - A Dunedin 24 3 9 - 1 .375
Bruce Yari - A Daytona 16 2 6 - 1 .375
Noah Naylor - A Lake County 27 6 10 1 4 .370
Ben Pelletier - A Lakewood 14 3 5 - 1 .357
Tanner Kirwer - A Lansing 18 2 6 - - .333
Andy Yerzy - A Hillsboro 12 2 4 - 5 .333
Riley MacDonald - FGN Dornbirn 13 - 5 - 3 .385
Jamie Romak - FGN SK Wyverns KBO 19 4 7 1 6 .368
David Glaude - IND Trois Rivieres 26 8 9 1 6 .346
(Minimum 10 ABs)
Top Pitching Performance
TYLER GILLIES RHP - SINGLE A WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L WHIP WK ERA
3 4.2 2 - - - 7 1-0 0.48 0.00
Tyler Gillies is a 24 year old native of London, ON and you can safely say, he did not follow the traditional route in reaching the Brewers organization. In 2017 he was active with Quebec Capitales in the IND Can Am League but with no offers after the season, he signed in 2018 with Brantford Red Sox in the Intercounty League.
He had agreed to resign with Quebec for the 2019 season but, when the opportunity arose to attend a Brewers showcase in the spring, and with the blessing of the Quebec team, he gladly accepted the challenge. His performance at the tryout was good enough to make an impression on Brewers pro scout Bryan Gale who signed him to a minor league contract. He was assigned the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers their Single A affiliate in the Midwest League.
Gillies has certainly taken advantage of the opportunity, and has become a solid performer in the Wisconsin bullpen and this week, he had three more excellent outings. On July 31 in a 5-3 loss to the Clinton Lumber Kings he threw two scoreless innings, gave up one base hit while striking out four Clinton batters, but was not involved in the decision. On Aug. 3 in a 6-2 loss to the Peoria Chiefs he pitched one scoreless, surrendering zero hits while striking out two Peoria batters but again, was not involved in the decision. In his final outing this week
on Aug. 6 in a 5-3 win over Peoria, he threw 1 2/3 scoreless allowing one hit and striking out one, to earn his third win of the season. His overall record with Wisconsin in 33 relief appearances is now 3-1, with two saves and a 3.50 ERA.
Previous Players of the Week
Week 1 _ INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Double A Frisco Roughriders (Rangers).
Week II _ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Triple A El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres).
Week III _ RHP R.J. Freure (Burlington, Ont.) Class-A Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros).
Week IV _ INF Adam Hall (London, Ont.) Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles).
Week V _ RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) Class-A Fort Myers Miracle (Twins).
Week VI _ RHP Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) double-A Montgomery Biscuits (Rays)
Week VII _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) and 3B Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) double-A Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros).
Week VIII _ 1B Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) triple-A Iowa Cubs (Cubs).
Week IX _ INF Adam Hall (London, Ont.) Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles).
Week X _ RHP R. J. Freure (Burlington, Ont.) class-A Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros).
Week XI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) class-A Inland Empire ‘66s (Angels).
Week XII _ OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) class-A Dunedin Blue Jays (Jays).
Week XIII _ OF Jacob Sanford (Cole Harbour, NS) class-A Staten Island Yankees (Yankees).
Week XIV _ RHP Kyle Thomas (Mississauga, Ont.) class-A Connecticut Tigers (Tigers).
Week XV _ RHP Alex Nolan (Burlington, Ont.) class-A Vancouver Canadians (Jays).
Week XVI _ OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) class-A Dunedin Blue Jays (Jays).
Week XVII _ LHP Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.) double-A Tulsa Drillers (Dodgers).
Week XVIII _ INF Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) class-A Lansing Lugnuts (Jays).