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, May 14 through Sunday, May 20. So, let’s see who was busy making “sounds” for Nashville last week…
First Baseman/Outfielder Nick Martini
It was an interesting week for Nick Martini. After the release of Sounds first baseman Slade Heathcott on Tuesday, the outfielder, who had started fewer than a dozen games at first in his pro career prior to this year, suddenly found himself as Nashville’s new starting first baseman. He’s started every game at first since then and, fortunately, he’s yet to commit an error. The 27-year-old minor league veteran has also been performing well at the plate. He had a huge game against Oklahoma City on Friday, collecting three hits, including a pair of home runs, while driving in four runs. Overall, Martini went 8 for 22 with five walks on the week, and his .423 on-base percentage is best among all Sounds regulars.
Outfielder Jake Smolinski
The Sounds recently lost their center fielder when Dustin Fowler was promoted to the big leagues but, fortunately for the team, the A’s sent Jake Smolinski down to Nashville on Wednesday. And while the Sounds offense wasn’t exactly on fire last week, Smolinski proved to be a real bright spot in the lineup. The 29-year-old collected hits in three of his first four games for the Sounds. His most impressive performance came during Friday’s game against Oklahoma City, when he notched four hits for Nashville. Smolinski then slugged his first home run during Saturday’s game, and he ended the week hitting .333 after his first four games for Nashville.
Pitcher Daniel Gossett
Gossett continued to dominate Triple-A hitters during his only start of the week against division-leading Memphis last Tuesday. The right-handed hurler allowed just two hits and two walks while fanning a total of seven batters over six scoreless innings to notch his fourth win of the season for Nashville. And in the process, the 25-year-old lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.63.
Pitcher Bobby Wahl
With Nashville notching just two victories last week, there weren’t many opportunities for Wahl to close out a win for the Sounds. But the one opportunity that he did have was perfectly executed. Starter Daniel Gossett exited Tuesday’s game after the sixth inning with the Sounds holding a 6-0 lead over Memphis. The Redbirds then rallied and scored four runs off reliever J.B. Wendelken in the bottom of the seventh. Then, after Raul Alcantara put two men on in the eighth, Wahl took over on the mound and got the final out of the inning on a swinging strikeout. Wahl stayed on for the ninth and set down the side in order to secure his second save for the Sounds. He picked up his third save of the season on Monday despite giving up his first earned run during the month of May in the ninth for Nashville.
Catcher Dustin Garneau
Things were just starting to look up for Garneau when he received his release on Monday. The 30-year-old backstop got off to a slow start this season, but he performed well in four starts behind the plate for the Sounds last week. Garneau put together two multi-hit games and ended up going 7 for 16 with two home runs to raise his average above the Mendoza Line for the first time since opening day.
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