Top Prospects Receive Player Of The Week Honors
Published on June 30, 2014 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1) News Release
ROUND ROCK, Texas - Arismendy Alcantara of the Iowa Cubs and Taijuan Walker of the Tacoma Rainiers have been named Pacific Coast League Player and Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 23rd - 29th, the league office announced today.
Arismendy Alcantara batted a PCL-best .517 last week, while tying for the league-high with 15 hits and eight runs scored. He also ranked second in the PCL with eight RBIs, and his two home runs tied him for the third-most. The second baseman hit safely in all seven games he played in during the week and tallied six multi-hit performances. Alcantara piled up three runs, four hits, and four RBIs in the I-Cubs' 16-3 win at Colorado Springs on June 27th. His fourth hit of the night was a three-run home run that bounced off the right field light tower at Security Service Field. For the season, he is batting .305 with ten home runs and has stolen a team-high 18 bases.
Alcantara is playing in his sixth season in the Chicago Cubs' farm system, since signing with the organization in 2008 as an international free agent from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Baseball America ranks the 22-year-old as the Cubs' No. 7 prospect entering the 2014 season. The Player of the Week honor is the first of his career and makes him the fifth I-Cub to receive a weekly award from the PCL this season.
Taijuan Walker pitched the first complete-game shutout of his five-year career on June 24th, in the Rainiers' 2-0 victory over Oklahoma City. The Seattle Mariners' No. 1 prospect tossed a season-high eight strikeouts that game, while scattering four hits and one walk. Between the fourth and seventh inning he retired 11-straight batters. Of the 109 pitches he threw during his outing, 75 were for strikes. Walker's 0.56 WHIP for the week was the best among all starting pitchers in the PCL. The right-hander owns a 2-1 record and .190 opponents' average in six starts with Tacoma this season.
Walker, 21, was selected by Seattle in the 1st round (43rd overall) of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Yucaipa High School, in Yucaipa, California. He has now won two Pitcher of the Week awards in his career, with the first coming Aug. 26, 2013, from the PCL. Four days after obtaining that award, he made his major league debut with the Mariners as their starting pitcher in Houston.
Pacific Coast League Stories from June 30, 2014
- Express Send Zephyrs to Fourth Straight Loss - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Memphis Losing Skid Hits Five with 9-4 Loss in Nashville - Memphis Redbirds
- Halton Powers Sounds to Fourth Straight Win - Nashville Sounds
- River Cats Make Volunteering Easy with 'Cats Care' - Sacramento River Cats
- LHP Scott Elbert, RHP Carlos Frias Join Isotopes - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Fourth of July Berm Seating Now on Sale - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Rosales Called Up, Sardinas Optioned to Express - Round Rock Express
- RedHawks Game Notes: June 30, 2014 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Alcantara Tabbed PCL's Player of the Week - Iowa Cubs
- Chihuahuas Unveil Stars and Stripes Caps and Jerseys - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Taijuan Walker Named PCL Pitcher of the Week - Tacoma Rainiers
- Top Prospects Receive Player Of The Week Honors - PCL1
- Extra Inning Explosion Leads Bees to Victory - Salt Lake Bees
- Grizzlies Drop Last Game Of Homestand In Extra Innings - Fresno Grizzlies
- Isotopes Drop Rubber Game of Series 8-4 to Reno, Raise Nearly - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Chihuahuas Rally in Eighth, Win 6-4 - El Paso Chihuahuas
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.
