Hitter Of The Week: 1B Shawn Pfeifner (.261, 0 HR, 14 RBI’s)
The 25-year old first baseman had a great week for the Senators this week. He has been able to rack up the multi-hit games. If you look at the four games he played in this week, he had three multi-hit games. Counting the game on May 17 against the Trenton Thunder, he has four multi-hit games in his last five.
On Sunday, against the New Britain Rock Cats, he drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning on a walk-off double. In 14 games this month, Pfeifner is hitting .333 with ten RBI’s. This is a vast improvement from his .205 batting average in the month of April. Last season, he hit .298 with two home runs and had 44 RBI’s for high-A Potomac.
Honorable Mention: LF Derrick Robinson (.274, 0 HR, 6 RBI’s)
While Matt Skole did have a two home run game this week against Binghamton on Tuesday, the honorable mention goes to Derrick Robinson, one of the Nationals non-roster invitees this spring. This week, in five games, Robinson had eight hits over a three game stretch. One of the games that he was extremely excellent in came on May 21 against Binghamton. In that game, he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored after driving in three runs the night before.
This month, the 27-year-old is hitting .313 with no home runs and five RBi’s. Out of the 29 games he has played at Harrisburg, he has been used mainly in the leadoff spot of the batting order. He has also showed some speed, stealing six bases in nine attempts. The six steals are second on the team behind Tony Renda (10).
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Richard Bleier (3-0, 2.48 ERA)
Every week, it seems Richard Bleier continues to find a way to get into this slideshow and it’s usually with a different affiliate. This week, however, he is on the list with Harrisburg. He was pitcher of the week last week, but he was able to top that this week when he dominated a very good Rock Cats lineup.
In eight innings of work on May 22, the the 28-year-old left hander gave up just two hits, struck out seven and walked one batter to win his third straight game. In his last 21 innings, Bleier has given up a grand total of three runs. With Espino now at Syracuse, Bleier is a very good third option to slide as the third starter with Austin Voth and Joe Ross.
Honorable Mention: SP Matthew Spann (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
After starting with Syracuse last week, Spann got a start down in double-A Harrisburg this week and continued to pitch well. On May 20, against the Binghamton Mets, the 24-year old left hander went seven innings, gave up one run on seven hits, struck out three, and did not walk a batter. He threw 56 of 91 pitches in the win. Plus, he was able to induce 11 groundball outs.
This season, amongst three minor league levels, Spann has only allowed one home run in 42 innings. In his last three starts, he has given up one earned run over 19 innings, struck out 11, and walked two. After a rough start to the season in Potomac, Spann is starting to find his form and finding it at the higher levels of the organization.
Next: High-A