By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network

The search is on ...

Scouts have searched through Albany, Schenectady and Troy, N.Y.

And eventually they found R.J. Freure’s ERA. Pitching for the Tri City ValleyCats in the class-A New York-Penn League has an 0.60 ERA.

With six scoreless innings Freure (Burlington, Ont.) earned the Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XVIII.

Starting for the ValleyCats he pitched three scoreless innings in a 3-2 loss to the Brooklyn Cyclones before 4,363 fans at MCU Park. He faced nine hitters and did not allow a base runner in his 38-pitch outing (25 strikes).

Freure retired Brooklyn hitters by fanning three, getting one on a fly ball, two on line outs and three on ground balls.

Coming on in relief, Freure tossed three more scoreless in a 5-2 win over the Connecticut Tigers before 1,609 at Dodd Stadium. The ValleyCats were up 4-2 when the former Pitt Panthers closer pitched three innings without allowing a hit or a run. He fanned four for his second hold of the season.

In his 31-pitch outing (21 strikes) he retired three on a fly balls, two on pop ups and the four whiffs. 

Best Weeks at the plate
 
Player Class Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
 
F. Hernandez - Rkie DSL Cardinals 24  4  10  -  5  .417
Eric Senior - Rkie GCL Nationals  17  2  7  -  2  .412
Vladimir Guerrero - AAA Buffalo  18  3  7  -  2  .389
Otto Lopez - A Vancouver    21  6  8  1  6  .381
J.D. Williams - A Dayton     16  5  6  -   3  .375
Bruce Yari - A Daytona      27  4  10  1  5  .370
Jonathan Lacroix - A Quad Cities  19  1  7   1  3  .368
Louis Boyd - A Modesto     11  2  4   -  1  .364
Eric Wood - AAA Indianapolis   14  2  5   1  3  .357
Wes Darvill - AA Tulsa      15  1  5   -  2  .333
Kellin Deglan - A Tampa     12  1  4   1  5   .333
J.D. Osborne - A Batavia     16  5  5   1  3  .313
Ben Pelletier - A Williamsport   23  3  7   1  6  .304
 
Maxx Tissenbaum - IND Quebec  26  2  10  -  2   .385
Jamie Romak - KBO SK Wyverns  19  5  7   1  3   .368
David Glaude - IND Trois Rivieres 33  3  11  1  2   .333
(Minimum 10 ABs)
(J.D. Osborne includes one game at Greensboro and four at Batavia)
 
Top Pitching Performaances
R.J. FREURE RHP - A TRI CITY VALLEY CATS
APP  IP  H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2  6.0  -  -  -  -  7  -  -  0.00  0.00
 
After a successful NCAA career with the University of Pittsburgh, R.J. Freure was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 draft by the Houston Astros and to this point, it’s proving to be a wise selection. Still in the process of building up his innings, he made two appearances this week for Tri City the first of which was on Aug. 1 in 3-2 win over Brooklyn Cyclones, when he pitched three scoreless innings, gave up zero base hits while striking out three Brooklyn batters, but was not involved in the decision. On Aug. 7 in a 5-2 victory over Connecticut Tigers he tossed three innings and again, did not allow a hit or a run while striking out four Tigers, and was credited with his second hold of the season. These two outings improved his record in six New York Penn League games to 3-0, with two holds and a sparkling 0.60 ERA.
 
ROWAN WICK RHP - AAA EL PASO CHIHUAHUAS
APP  IP  H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
4  4.1  3  -  -  3  4  -  2  1.46  0.00
 
Rowan Wick has become a mainstay in the El Paso bullpen since his promotion in early July from Double A Corpus Christi, and this week he made four productive relief appearances. On Aug. 2 in an 11-4 win over New Orleans Baby Cakes he pitched one scoreless inning, without allowing a base hit, but was not involved in the decision. On Aug. 3 in a 5-4 victory over New Orleans he threw a scoreless, hitless frame, while striking out two Baby Cakes batters to secure the save. On Aug. 4 in a 5-3 win over Round Rock Express he pitched another scoreless inning allowing one hit while striking out two Express hitters, to pick up his second save of the week. His final appearance was on Aug. 7 in a 7-6 victory over Round Rock in which he threw 1 1/3 innings, he surrendered two base hits but was not involved in the decision. His record with El Paso in 13 Pacific Coast League appearances, now stands at 2-0 with three saves and a 2.30 ERA.
 
CAL QUANTRILL RHP - AAA EL PASO CHIHUAHUAS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1  6.0 7 2  2  -  4  1-0  -  1.17  3.00  
 
Just promoted to Triple A El Paso this week, Cal Quantrill made his first start at this level and he performed well enough to earn his first win for the Chihuahuas. On Aug. 6 in a 10-3 win over Round Rock Express he pitched six innings, gave up seven base hits and two earned runs while striking out four Round Rock batters, to earn the win. Including this result, his overall record including 22 appearances in the Texas League with Double A Corpus Christi Hooks, now stands at 7-5 with a 5.05 ERA.
 

 
JAY JOHNSON LHP - IND QUEBEC CAPITALES
 
APP IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 13.0 5  2  1  6  10  2-0  -  0.85  0.69
 
After a two year hiatus from the game, Jay Johnson signed this past off season with Quebec Capitales in the IND Can Am League, and the 28 year old veteran is now active in his sixth pro season. He has now become a key member of the Pitching staff. and has performed quite well both as a reliever and when required, as a starter. This week he made two very good starts the first on Aug. 1 in a 6-3 win over Rockland Boulders, when he pitched six innings gave up three base hits and two earned runs while striking out five Rockland batters to earn his fourth win. On Aug. 7 in an 8-0 victory again over Rockland he threw seven scoreless innings, giving up only two base hits, while striking out five hitters, to earn his second win of the week. These two outings improved his overall record for the Capitales in 23 IND Can Am League appearances to 5-1, with one save and a 1.50 ERA.

Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week

Week 1 _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Memphis (Cards) and Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres).
Week II _ RHP Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) New Hampshire (Blue Jays).
Week III _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Gwinett (Braves).
Week IV _ RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) Corpus Christi (Astros).
Week V _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).

Week VI _ RP Phillippe Aumont (Hull, Que.) Toledo (Tigers)
Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).
Week VIII _ RHP Curtis Taylor (Coquitlam, BC) Montgomery (Rays)
Week IX _ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres)
Week X _ 3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que,) Buise Creek (Astros) and 2B Charles Leblanc (Lavall, Que.) Down East Wood (Rangers).

Week XI _ C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) Hillsboro (Diamondbacks).
Week XII _ LHP Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) Hartford (Rockies).
Week XIII _ OF Ben Pelletier (Varennes, Que.) Williamsport (Philies)
Week XIV _ OF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) Vancouver (Blue Jays)
Week XV _ INF Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) Lakeland (Tigers)

Week XVI _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Memphis (Cards)
Week XVII _ OF Tristan Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) Greensboro (Marlins)
Week XVIII _ RHP Freure (Burlington, Ont.) Tri Cities (Astros)