by Rachel Davis / A’s Farm Nashville Contributor
Each week, we’ll be taking a look at some of the top performers for the A’s top affiliate, the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, over the past week. This week covers the period from Monday, April 23 through Sunday, April 29. So, let’s see who was busy making “sounds” for Nashville last week…
Outfielder Dustin Fowler
Fowler really seems to be hitting his stride this season. Last week, he tallied ten hits, including two home runs, while driving in five runs and crossing the plate seven times. And, perhaps best of all, he only struck out twice over six games. The 23-year-old center fielder managed to compile three multi-hit games last week. On Monday, he had three hits and stole a base to help Nashville edge Omaha in a one-run game. On Thursday, he had three hits, including a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored to help the Sounds outlast New Orleans in 10 innings. And on Sunday, he doubled, tripled, homered and drove in a pair to lead the Sounds to victory in their final game against New Orleans. Through the Sounds’ first 23 games of the season, Fowler already had nine multi-hit games under his belt.
Second Baseman Franklin Barreto
Barreto’s bat has been red hot. He collected hits in all five games of the Sounds’ series with New Orleans last week. Overall, he notched nine hits on the week, including his third home run of the season in Saturday’s game. After last Monday’s match, Barreto was batting just .217, but he ended the week hitting a healthy .333. The 22-year-old has also continued to make jaw-dropping plays in the field, making leaping catches that most players his size would seemingly be unable to duplicate. In addition to his hot hitting and great defense, Barreto also notched his first stolen base of the year for Nashville last week.
Pitcher Eric Jokisch
Southpaw Eric Jokisch turned in his best start of the season for the Sounds last Thursday against New Orleans. The 28-year-old minor league veteran allowed four hits and three walks while striking out 6 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a game the Sounds would go on to win in ten innings. He dominated in the first two frames, setting down the first six batters he faced. Jokisch got off to a slow start in his first season with the Sounds. He lost his first three starts and headed into last Thursday’s game with an unsightly ERA of 5.63, but his solid effort against New Orleans lowered it to a much more respectable 4.15.
Catcher Beau Taylor
With three catchers on the roster, Taylor has been having to spend some time in the designated hitter slot as well as behind the dish in order to get his at-bats. And last week, he spent two games starting at each spot. The 28-year-old minor league veteran managed to collect five hits over the four games and put together multi-hit games on both Saturday and Sunday. He also swiped a base and drove in 4 runs on the week. Taylor finished the week batting .333 while leading the team with an impressive .489 on-base percentage. And with numbers like those, the Sounds will have to keep finding a way to get squeeze his bat into the lineup.
Outfielder B.J. Boyd
Boyd has managed to make our list for the third straight week, and he’s remained one of the Sounds’ most dependable bats this season. After getting a couple of days off, he was unable to extend his eight-game hitting streak on Wednesday but, believe it or not, that was only his third hitless game of the season. Boyd bounced right back on Thursday and went on to collect five hits over the week’s final four games while also scoring three runs, driving in a pair and swiping a base, which was his fourth of the season for the Sounds.
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