The easiest way to win awards in baseball is to hit home runs. This week’s Double-A Players of the Week certainly had their way with the long ball.
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Cam Perkins, the Phialdelphia Phillies No. 30 ranked prospect, took home Eastern League Player of the Week honors for the Reading Fighting Phils. Perkins came into the week with 5 home runs on the season, and ended the week nearly doubling his season output.
Perkins, the 24-year old outfield prospect, went 11-for-30 this past week, good for a .367 batting average. He hit in all 7 games he played in this week, extending his hitting streak to a season long 10 games. The 2012 6th round pick added three multi hit games along the way. 9 of his 11 hits were for extra bases as he drilled six doubles to go along with his three bombs. Perkins now sits at .257/.296/.471 with 8 home runs and 29 RBI.
The Southern League saw Miami Marlins prospect Matt Juengel take home Player of the Week honors. The 25-year old outfielder for the Jacksonville Suns was, like Perkins, drafted in 2012 in the 24th round.
Juengel also blasted three home runs this week, including hitting a home run in back-to-back games midweek. He closed the week hitting in five straight games, including two multi-hit games. Altogether he went 9-for-23 over six games (.391), with a double and those three home runs.
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Juengel now has 9 home runs on the season. He entered the season with 22 career home runs over his first three seasons, so he is clearly showing that he is finding his stroke. He should easily surpass his career highs in home runs (14) and RBI (68) and could even surpass his season high .271 batting average from last year as he is currently sitting at .279 on the season.
Mike Ohlman took home Player of the Week honors in the Texas League. The 24-year old St. Louis Cardinals catching prospect played in 4 games last week. Three of them were multi-hit games with home runs coming in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.
Overall, Ohlman produced 7 hits, 2 home runs and 8 RBI over his limited performance. He raised his season average from .275 to .296 in the process and doubled his home run total on the season. The 2009, 11th round draft pick from the Orioles is seemingly fitting right in with his new team. With only Steve Bean and Cody Stanley as the big name catching prospects in the Cardinals system, Ohlman could see his stock soar should he keep up his hot hitting.