EL1 Eastern League

Eastern League Announces Weekly Award Winners

Published on May 26, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Eastern League is pleased to announce the winners of the Eastern League Player of the Week Award and Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Award for the week ending May 24th:

New Britain Rock Cats third baseman Danny Valencia has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending May 24th. The 24-year old hit .444 (12-for-27) with one double, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI, eight runs scored, three walks and a .778 slugging percentage while helping lead the Rock Cats to a record of 6-0 during the week. Valencia, who is a native of Miami, Florida, had at least one hit in each of the six games he played in during the week and had four multiple hit games, including going 2-for-6 with a three-run homer in a 14-6 win at Reading last Tuesday night. The 6'2", 210 lb. slugger is hitting .421 with 16 RBI and 15 runs scored in 14 games during the month of May and is batting .339 for the season, which ranks fourth in the league. He is also currently ranked among the league leaders in triples (4-tied 1st), on-base percentage (.432-2nd), OPS (1.028-2nd), slugging percentage (.597-3rd), runs scored (27-tied 7th) and total bases (74-tied 9th). Danny, who hit .289 with 18 doubles, 10 home runs and 40 runs scored in 69 games while making his Double-A debut with the Rock Cats last season following a promotion from Class-A Ft. Myers, was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 19th round of the 2006 draft out of the University of Miami.

Jeanmar Gomez, a right-handed starting pitcher for the Akron Aeros, is the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending May 24th. The 21-year old made one start for the Aeros last week and was 1-0 with eight strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in nine innings pitched. Gomez, who is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, made history in his only appearance of the week last Thursday afternoon at Trenton, throwing a perfect game in a 3-0 win over the Thunder. He struck out three of the last six batters he faced and finished with eight strikeouts while pitching the first perfect game in the history of the Akron franchise. The perfect game was the first in Minor League Baseball since July 15, 2007 and the first by an Eastern League pitcher since Bill Pulsipher tossed a perfect in game two of the 1994 Eastern League Championship Series against the Harrisburg Senators. The 6'4", 190 lb. hurler has only given up one run since joining the Aeros after receiving a promotion from the Kinston Indians of the Class-A Carolina League on April 29th and he currently has a streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings. Jeanmar, who has won each of his four starts with Akron and is tied for fourth in the league in wins, was signed by the Cleveland Indians as a non-drafted free agent on April 4, 2005.

Check out the Eastern League Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from May 26, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central