Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Players Of The Week (5/18-5/24)

Potomac Nationals (18-24)

Hitter Of The Week: LF Isaac Ballou (.295, 3 HR, 18 RBI’s)

Ballou gets the hitter of the week honor for the Nationals high-A affiliate this week because he has been tearing the cover off the ball as of late. Ballou went 10-for-25 at the plate this week and had a hit in all six games that he played in. Out of those ten hits, he had one home run and drove in five runs. His best performance of the week came on May 21 against the Carolina Mudcats when he went 3-for-5 with a triple three RBI’s in Potomac’s 11-1 win.

This month, Ballou is hitting .277, which is down from the .313 average he had in April. That being said, he has driven in nine runs already with a week to go in the month. He is second on the team in RBI’s behind Drew Ward, who has 21. Ballou’s average might be down from last month, but he is still one of Potomac’s main players in their lineup.

Honorable Mention: 2B Christopher Bostick (.241, 2 HR, 9 RBI’s)

The Potomac second baseman had an excellent series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans this weekend. The 22-year old went 5-for-12 with two home runs and three RBI’s. He drove in a run in each game this weekend. Potomac does finish its series against the Cubs’ high-A affiliate on Monday. While Bostick was 1-for-6 in the first two games against the Mudcats, he did draw three walks.

This month, Bostick is hitting .278 with two home runs and five RBI’s. The .278 average is up from the .203 he was hitting in April. He has not stolen many bases (3-for-4), but the slugging percentage is way up as it has increased from .241 in April to .443 in May. Bostick does have the speed element in his game, but he has shown off some of his power this month.

Pitcher Of The Week: SP Nick Pivetta (3-3, 1.41)

With Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez being the main pitchers people talk about in the rotation, you can’t sleep on the 22-year-old right hander, Nick Pivetta. In two starts this week, Pivetta gave up two combined runs in 13 innings, struck out ten batters, and walked one. Yesterday, against Myrtle Beach, Pivetta shut out the Pelicans, giving up three hits over six innings, struck out four, and walking one.

This month, Pivetta is 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in five games (four starts). One of the things that Pivetta has improved this month is his walks. He has only walked five hitters over 31 innings this month. By the way, that is the same amount of earned runs he has given up.

Honorable Mention: SP Lucas Giolito (1-2, 4.67)

This past week, down in Potomac, the top prospect in the Nationals organization continued to show off his strikeout prowess. On May 20, against Carolina, the 20-year-old right hander gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out nine hitters, and walking none. In his last two starts, Giolito has struck out 20 hitters.

In that start, in which he picked up his first win of the season, Giolito gave up one extra base hit and induced seven ground ball outs out of the 27 batters he faced. Today, Giolito gets the start against Myrtle Beach at 6:05 PM ET. It will be something to keep an eye on when you consider the fact that he is likely to get two starts this week in the Potomac rotation.

Next: Low-A