Junior shortstop Trea Turner throws the ball during the 3-0 victory over Michigan on Friday Feb. 28, 2014 at Doak Field. The National College Baseball Hall of Fame announced Friday that Turner is the 2014 recipient of the Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the nation’s best college shortstop." />
File photo by Joannah Irvin
Junior shortstop Trea Turner throws the ball during the 3-0 victory over Michigan on Friday Feb. 28, 2014 at Doak Field. The National College Baseball Hall of Fame announced Friday that Turner is the 2014 recipient of the Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the nation’s best college shortstop.
The three MLB Pack Pros have all had a down week compared to recent performances. Chicago White Sox left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón had a significant decrease in playing time this week, Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner saw another fall in his batting performance and St. Louis Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner wasn’t able to bring up his batting performance from where it had been earlier in the season.
Carlos Rodón, left-handed pitcher, Chicago White Sox
Despite his excellent performance in recent weeks, Rodón only started one game in the past week on May 31 against the Cleveland Indians. This game was a downturn for Rodón’s season resume as he allowed nine hits, five runs and three home runs while on the mound. Those nine hits were the most Rodón has allowed in one game all season.
In only 85 pitches, the least amount of pitches Rodón has had in a game this year, he pitched one of his worst games this season. However, with how Rodón’s performance has been so far this year, given the opportunity, he should bounce back and continue performing at high levels.
Trea Turner, shortstop, Washington Nationals
Turner continued to be pretty busy in the past week, starting in six games with 27 at-bats. In the Nationals’ four-game series against the Atlanta Braves, Turner started off with four strikeouts and not much else in the May 31 game. He quickly started turning that around, however, with three hits, two runs and three total bases in the game on June 1. The rest of the series against Atlanta didn’t bring much for Turner.
Against the Philadelphia Phillies, Turner had two runs and two hits with three strikeouts in two games with eight at-bats. Turner had a double in the June 5 game against the Phillies, which has been a rare occurrence this season. Turner’s bat hasn’t been swinging the same way it was in the beginning of the season, but even with this cooldown in his performance, Turner maintains the 10th-highest batting average in the league.
Andrew Knizner, catcher, St. Louis Cardinals
Knizner continued to see more playing time in the past week but only scored one run in three games played. First, Knizner struck out twice in four at-bats on June 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Knizner played the last inning in a June 4 game against the Cincinnati Reds, where he scored his only run of the week by drawing a walk, then scoring on a two-run double by right fielder Tommy Edman. On June 5 against the Reds, Knizner wasn’t able to get anything done in three at-bats.