Feb. 21, 2113; Tempe, AZ, USA: Los Angeles Angels infielder Efren Navarro poses for a portrait during photo day at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Tacoma Rainiers and Las Vegas 51’s have been on an absolute tear recently, each going 8-2 over their last 10 games. Pitching dominated the first couple weeks for the 51’s, but Allan Dykstra was named the most recent offensive player of the week and has risen to the top of the league in both OPB and slugging, and is third in the league in batting average.The 51’s now lead all the Pacific Coast League in runs scored as a team.
Brian Flynn was the most recent pitcher of the week after going seven one-hit innings against the loaded Iowa Cubs and looking absolutely dominant. Tyler Matzek also put up good numbers this past week, getting two starts and 11.2 innings of shutout ball while only allowing four hits, but he did give up six walks in under 12 innings.
Jonathan Singleton and Nick Evans have both made the PCL look like the hitters league it is, as both players have hit four home runs over the past seven days, while Eugenio Velez still has a batting average of .444.
A couple of milestones were reached over the past week as Efren Navarro has become the Salt Lake Bees all-time leader in hits. He glove first Angels first baseman has three hits in the big leagues, but has 502 of his 925 minor league base hits coming as a member of the Bees. MiLB.com got a quote from Navarro on his feelings on this accomplishment:
"It’s a bitter sweet moment, obviously the goal is to be in the big leagues and to break records there, but it just shows the hard work and dedication I put in day in and day out."
The other accomplishment came from a manager, as Sacramento River Cats skipper, Steve Scarsone won his 500th career game this past Sunday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been the worst team in Major League Baseball thus far, thanks in large part to struggles from the pitching staff, but it does not look like Archie Bradley will be on his way up to help anytime soon. He has yet to make it out of the fifth inning in either his past two outings, allowing seven earned runs in 8.1 innings over the past eight days. His strikeout numbers finally started to improve in his last outing. His next two starts should come against the Bees and 51’s, who are third and first respectively in runs scored, so his numbers might not be improving in the immediate future.