By Brian Fonseca / A’s Farm Las Vegas Contributor
After starting the season by running up a record of 13-2, the Aviators have cooled off a bit recently. Las Vegas lost 6 of its last 7 games to close out the month, and the team finished April with a record of 16-10. While the team’s .292 batting average is good for third-best in the 16-team Pacific Coast League, the team’s 5.34 ERA puts them right in the middle of the pack in the PCL. Let’s take a look at some of the team’s top performers during the month of April…
Outfielder Mark Payton
Sporting an impressive slash line of .342/.409/.711, Payton, who was signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, currently boasts the team’s best OPS at 1.120. And he managed to reach base in his first 20 games this season before finally failing to reach base in Tuesday’s contest. Payton compiled 7 home runs and 25 RBIs in April and has collected 3 hits in a game 3 separate times during the month. The 27-year-old has been particularly tough on right-handed pitching, slashing .356/.420/.712 against righties so far this season. A recent 0-for-10 stretch has dropped Payton’s batting average 52 points, from a lofty .394 down to .342.
First Baseman Seth Brown
The former 19th-round draft pick currently leads all A’s minor leaguers with 9 home runs and a .747 slugging percentage. The bulk of the left-handed batter’s damage has come when righties are on the mound, and he’s currently slashing a hefty .353/.392/.824 against right-handers. But against lefties, Brown is batting just .217. The 26-year-old had a game to remember on April 15 against Sacramento when he homered in his first three trips to the plate and finished the game with 6 RBIs. And Brown doesn’t appear to be slowing down one bit, as he’s 6 for 13 with 4 extra-base hits over his last 3 games for Las Vegas.
Outfielder Skye Bolt
The former 4th-round pick appears to be putting it all together in 2019. Bolt leads Las Vegas with 8 doubles and leads all A’s minor leaguers with 27 RBIs while sporting a slugging percentage of .692. The switch-hitter has been smashing right-handed pitching, and he’s currently slashing .358/.443/.755 against righties. Bolt has yet to commit an error while playing all three outfield positions. The 25-year-old has started 9 games apiece in center and right while making 2 starts in left so far this season. And Bolt just seems to keep getting better. Over his last 9 games, Bolt is batting .394 with 5 home runs and 16 RBIs for the Aviators.
Shortstop Jorge Mateo
Mateo has managed to reach base in all of his 23 games this season, and he’s collected at least one hit in 21 of those games. He leads Las Vegas in hits, triples and stolen bases while boasting the team’s best batting average at .352. Mateo has really raked against left-handed pitching, and is slashing .414/.452/.724 versus southpaws. The 23-year-old has primarily played shortstop for the Aviators, but he made his fourth start of the season at second base on Tuesday. And Mateo collected 2 more hits in Tuesday’s game, including his league-leading 6th triple.
Pitcher Daniel Mengden
Mengden leads all A’s minor leaguers in strikeouts with 33 K’s in 27 innings of work while walking just 9 and posting an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.19 over 5 April outings for the Aviators. In his second-to-last start at Fresno, Mengden was impressive, recording 7 strikeouts and allowing just 2 hits over 7 scoreless innings to earn his 3rd victory for Las Vegas, and 60 of his 96 pitches went for strikes. In his last outing, a pair of key errors in the 1st inning led to 5 unearned runs, and Mengden ended up allowing 8 hits and 6 runs, just 1 earned, in 3 innings of work against El Paso to suffer his 1st loss of the season for Las Vegas.
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