Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Players Of The Week (5/4-5/10)

Potomac Nationals (12-18)

 Hitter Of The Week: 2B Chris Bostick (.229, 0 HR, 2 RBi’s)

 Bostick was one of the players, along with reliever Abel De Los Santos, that was traded from the Rangers to the Nationals back in December in exchange for Ross Detwiler. The 22 year old isn’t with the big league club yet, but Bostick has had a good start at high-A. He is currently on a six game hitting streak and drove in two RBI’s this week. One of those RBI’s came on Sunday when he hit a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles).

While Bostick is hitting only .229 this year, he does have two triples and he is third on the team in hits behind Drew Ward and Isaac Ballou. Plus, he does have nine walks this season, which is fourth on the team. Last season, Bostick hit .251 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI’s for another team in the Carolina League, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

 Honorable Mention: 3B Drew Ward (.287, 2 HR, 19 RBI’s)

Against the Frederick Keys this weekend, Ward was one of Potomac’s best hitters. He went 5-for-12 in the series with a home run and two RBI’s. That home run came on Friday night during Lucas Giolito’s Potomac debut. Ward has eight doubles on the season, which is the most on the team and tied for second in the entire Carolina League.

Ward has also been good at drawing walks as he has six walks in his last eight games. His 12 walks on the season are second on the team behind catcher Spencer Kieboom. As good of a player that Ward is, he does have five errors, which is the most of any Potomac Nationals. However, Potomac needs Ward’s power when you consider he has three of the team’s 14 home runs.

Pitcher Of The Week: SP Reynaldo Lopez (1-0, 0.00)

As I mentioned earlier, Lopez made his debut in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Wilmington Blue Claws. Lopez and Giolito are seen as one of the best 1-2 combos in the minor leagues and they are only in high-A.

To expand on Lopez a little more, one of the things I did like about his start on Thursday was the ability to draw groundball outs. Out of the 16 batters he faced, he induced six ground ball outs. He is only 21 years old, but this kid is showing after a great year at Hagerstown last year (4-1, 1.33) that he is going to keep climbing up those prospect rankings. Potomac does play Wilmington again this week, so it will be interesting to see what adjustments the Blue Rocks make if they see him again.

 Honorable Mention: SP Nick Pivetta (1-3, 1.41 ERA)

 While Pivetta is still a starter in Potomac’s rotation, he did get an appearance out of the bullpen this week. In Game 2 of Thursday’s doubleheader, Pivetta came in for Casey Janssen to pitch the final six innings. While he did lose the game, he gave three runs (no earned runs) on eight hits in those six innings. He struck out three batters and walked one in the loss.

In six starts this season, Pivetta has yet to give up more than two earned runs in any one of them. He does have 13 walks, but keep in mind, six of those came in one game back on April 27. In a week where Potomac didn’t have many great pitching performances besides Lopez, it’s Pivetta’s loss to gets on the list for one of the best pitching performances this week.

Next: Low-A