It was a slow week for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on the road against the Tulsa Drillers. The team was never held scoreless but only scored above four just once in their 9-5 win over Tulsa. Pitching was also roughed up a bit, leading to a 2-3 record on the week. With the game on Saturday being canceled, the Naturals were able to pull off a slightly better record than what the stats make it seem. Unlike last week, the superlatives will be a bit easier and the numbers will look a bit less exciting.
Only four pitchers managed to throw scoreless over the whole week and none of them wowed in the strikeout category. On that note, Luinder Avila was the only starter to register a clean start. The other pitchers on this list all threw less than 3 innings over six games.
Offensively, the bats were a bit silent. Only three batters registered over a .800 OPS and two hit a measly .200 on the week. Luca Tresh and Dillan Shrum both had multiple home runs on the week. Gavin Cross and Cayden Wallace continued to rebound on their slow starts. But beyond these four the best of the team was slightly below par.
Pitcher of the Week
Eric Carentola has silently put up pretty decent numbers through five starts at AA. His WHIP is nothing impressive but he showed a bit of what he’s capable in his start on Friday. Crentola struck out 10 batters in only 4.0 innings pitched while giving up two runs and a home run on the outing. He also walked one and gave up three hits, walks being his kryptonite for most of the season. While he’s given up 10 runs on the season in 14.1 innings, only four have been earned. With a strikeout ability like this, more outings like this seem possible if he can limit his walks and avoid living in the heart of the zone.
Hitter of the Week
This is a tough category as the few guys who look better in OPS and power stats could not put the bat on the ball consistently. To reward the parity of contact and avoid putting the same name here again, this week’s award goes to Gavin Cross. The numbers don’t jump off the screen, but a healthy slash of .294/.429/.353 seems like a change has been made in his approach. Still lacking a home run on the season, Cross is choosing to get on base at a much higher clip. The six strikeouts in the 5 games he played in is a number that needs to go down. He managed to offset that number with three walks and two multi-hit games throughout the week. He’s rebuilding his approach to start the 2024 season and a week like this give’s hope that the process is working.
Other Notables
Dillan Shrum continues his power surge with three home runs this week. His OPS over five games was a whopping 1.255 but those bombs were the only hits he had. He registered a .200 AVG on the week but his eye at the plate managed to get him on enough times to offset.
Cayden Wallace only started three games but hit for a .500 average with four singles, three walks, and zero strikeouts. His slow start has all but disappeared as he’s worked his way back to a season slash of .267/.380/.400.
Luca Tresh continued to impress with two home runs in 4 games. His OPS on the season has bloomed to .857 as he fights to stay relevant with Carter Jensen battling for a promotion in High-A. He continues to look more and more like the next backup catcher for the big league club.
Pitchers Noah Cameron and Chandler Champlain both registered eight strikeouts in their outings this week. Both got knocked around a bit and gave up a couple of runs, but Champlain complied a cool 1.00 WHIP with Cameron sitting pretty at 1.24 on the week. As with the team as a whole, both pitchers seemed to be victims of some timely hitting by the Tulsa batters.
Record on the Season: 9-11
What’s next
The Naturals travel to Wichita to take on the Wind Surge for a week-long series starting On Tuesday, April, 30th. The Wind Surge have struggled to start 2024 and sit last in the Texas League North division. The Naturals look to improve their record and hone in on some inconsistencies they’ve faced early on.