Record on the Season: 16-15
After a slow first couple of weeks, The Northwest Arkansas Naturals have battled their way back to 16-15 on the season. They came into this week against the division-leading Springfield Cardinals a game back of even on the year. The Royals’ minor leaguers took the series 4-2 on the back of more fantastic offense.
There were some unlikely heroes this week as the Naturals had to score runs to win. Their three wins came off of 6, 9, and 11 runs. The losses both came in games where the offense could only muster three or fewer runs. Batters Gavin Cross, Cayden Wallace, Javier Vaz, and Luca Tresh managed to continue to surge with above-average weeks to add foundation to high-octane offenses. There were surprises by Josh Lester and Joe Gray Jr. in limited appearances that helped put the team over the top in their wins.
Pitching continues to manage regular strikeouts but at the expense of giving up unwanted baserunners. These mostly come from hits that could be avoided by less aggressive approaches in certain situations. There are some issues with walks with certain pitchers as we dive further into the season, typically surrounding the strikeout-first guys. Moving forward, the pitching will look to match the consistency of the high-scoring offense to help take some weight off of their shoulders and win lower-scoring games.
Pitcher of the Week
Chandler Champlain comes in as the pitcher of the week for the second week in a row. Champlain struck out seven for the second straight appearance but, more importantly, gave up zero free passes in six innings pitched. With only three hits, he limited baserunners and had the longest outing of any pitcher on the team.
Champlain continues to impress and has had five straight starts of great pitching after his unfortunate season debut. Removing his debut (8 ER, 2.2 innings), Champlain has a 2.00 ERA spanning 27 innings. Over those starts, he’s racked up 34 strikeouts and only walked five batters. His season numbers may not agree but Champlain has been the best pitcher for the Naturals thus far. If he continues to tally productive weeks such as this one, he will earn a promotion much sooner than expected coming into the year.
Hitter of the Week
In only 10 at-bats, Josh Lester had six hits with a double and a home run. He wasn’t at the plate much, with only 12 plate appearances but he made them count. His OPS on the week was 1.615 due to two of his six hits being extra-base hits and he walked twice in his limited appearances. It was a productive week for many hitters, but most others floated right around or slightly above the league average. Lester was able to create a spark in his small role which landed him with this honor this week.
On the season he has been buried behind a red-hot Dillan Shrum. With Shrum beginning to cool off rapidly, the Naturals have turned to giving Lester more innings to ease some of the pressure. He is having a decent season, with a slash of .284/.352/.370. He will have to display more power to make a statement as a 29-year-old in AA. Weeks like these will give him more chances at starts in the field.
Other Notables
Eric Cerantola pitched 4.0 scoreless innings this week with two hits allowed and five strikeouts. He walked four but managed to mop the mess up every time.
Javier Vaz is figuring his swing out. This week’s slash of .368/.500/.368 has raised his season OPS back above .700. The walk tool is coming back in full force with five walks and only 2 strikeouts in his six games.
It’s safe to say Cayden Wallace has hit his stride. He has comfortably found a power/contact combination with a weekly slash of .286/.375/.476. He is batting .286 on the season with 10 extra-base hits.
What’s Next
The Naturals will drive three hours south to see an old friend and manager of the Arkansas Travelers, Christian Colon. The Travelers are a spot above the Naturals in the division but only by a game and a half. With six games scheduled for the week, the Naturals will look to climb into second in the division against a similarly performing opponent.