Nelson Velázquez Named International League Player of the Week
IL Indianapolis Indians

Nelson Velázquez Named International League Player of the Week

Published on September 22, 2025 under International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS - Minor League Baseball today announced that outfielder Nelson Velázquez was named the International League Player of the Week for Sept. 15-21 after totaling five extra-base hits and four multi-RBI performances in last week's series at Gwinnett. He joins Nick Dombkowski as the only Indians' players to win a league weekly award this season and is the first position player to receive a weekly award since outfielder Ryan Vilade also did so in the final week of the 2023 season (Sept. 18-24).

Velázquez notched a hit in five of six games last week and recorded multiple hits in three contests. Across the week, he hit .346 (9-for-26) with a 1.139 OPS while ranking among International League hitters in RBI (1st, 11), total bases (1st, 20), home runs (T-1st, 3), extra-base hits (T-2nd, 5), slugging percentage (5th, .769) and runs scored (T-6th, 6).

The outfielder put an exclamation point on his award-winning week with a season-high matching three hits and three RBI in Sunday's contest. He opened the scoring for Indy with a double in the first inning and closed the book on Gwinnett with a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning to seal a victory in the final game of the season.

The 26-year-old has played in 18 games with Indy since debuting with the team on Sept. 2. Since his Indians debut, Velazquez is tied for the sixth-most RBI (17), hits (21) and total bases (41) in the International League. He also leads Indians' hitters in that timeframe in home runs (5), RBI, slugging percentage (.554), extra-base hits (10) and total bases while ranking third in batting average (.284, 21-for-74) and OPS (.883).

Velázquez's batting average is his best at a single level in a calendar month (min. 10 PA) since he hit .320 (23-for-70) with Triple-A Iowa in April 2023. Additionally, 10 extra-base hits and 17 RBI are his most at a single level in a month since he recorded 12 extra-base hits and 20 RBI in Sept. 2023 while with Kansas City (AL).

The Carolina, Puerto Rico native was signed by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent from Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League on Sept. 1, 2025. He was originally selected by Chicago (NL) in the fifth round (165th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of P.J. Education (Carolina, P.R.) High School.

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