Week record: 4-2
Overall record: 28-14
Summary
The Storm Chasers closed out another strong week, increasing their International League West lead to 4.5 games, and sit tied for 1st place in the entire International League. They currently hold a +59 run differential on the season, which is +16 better than the next closest team. After a tough 13-7 loss to begin the series, they bounced back to win the next two games, including a 9-8 extra-inning thriller on Thursday. Ryan Fitzgerald, the 29-year-old utility infielder new to the team this season, had his best week thus far, slashing .333/.400/.889 with a 1.289 OPS. His three home runs this week led the team. It was encouraging to see Daniel Lynch IV bounce back after a rough outing on Tuesday to pitch 6.2 innings with no earned runs on Sunday.
Is Tyler Gentry coming around?
It’s taken a while, but Tyler Gentry is starting to make some strides on offense. This week, he slashed .263/.263/.474 with a .737 OPS, two doubles and one triple. That may seem like a fairly average week, but compared to his season as a whole, this is as hot as he’s been. There were high hopes going into this season that Gentry would push for playing time in Kansas City given their potential struggles in the corner outfield spots, but he hasn’t been able to find any consistency himself. Hopefully, this past week is a sign of things to come.
Will anyone be promoted anytime soon?
The Royals have had about as little action on the transaction wire as possible so far this season. I respect that they have given the guys in Kansas City ample opportunity to prove themselves, as I believe that sometimes teams can be too quick to give up on a player early in the season. However, it is about that time of the season when the sample size is big enough to start making changes. Nick Loftin, Drew Waters, Will Klein, and Walter Pennington have all made their case to join or re-join the major league squad. I may take a deeper look this week into some players who have earned an opportunity to prove themselves in Kansas City. In the meantime, Omaha will look to continue its impressive play with a talented roster that has them sitting in 1st place in the division.
Hitter of the Week
Ryan Fitzgerald – 6 for 18, 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K
Season Stats: .240/.321/.507, .828 OPS
Runner-up: CJ Alexander: 7 for 15, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Pitcher of the Week
Luis Cessa: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Season Stats: 4.44 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, .282 OBA, 1.67 K/BB
Runner-up: Steven Cruz – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (Earned save in 9-8 extra-inning win)
Next up
May 21st – May 26th vs. Columbus Clippers
Side note: Check out David Maher’s great daily recaps of all Storm Chasers games here on Farm to Fountains.
Image credit: Nicholas Badders/Omaha Storm Chasers