September 3, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Players of the Week, August 24 - 30: Chih-Hsien Chiang & Cesar Cabral
Plate discipline, power, and scoreless relief were huge hits with the voters, allowing Salem DH / outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang and Lowell pitcher Cesar Cabral to handily win Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for August 24 - 30. Chiang put up an impressive .444/.545/.778 slash line covering 22 plate appearances, smacking 2 singles and 6 doubles while walking 4 times against only 2 strikeouts. He also scored 4 runs and drove in 5, helping Salem go 6-2 in the week. Originally signed as an international free agent out of Taiwan following the 2005 season, the 21-year-old lefthanded batter has hit .253/.315/.400 with 6 home runs in 285 at-bats in 2009.For Cabral (pictured), it all began with 4.0 perfect innings of relief on August 25 at Aberdeen in which he struck out 4 to earn his fourth save of the season. He followed that up with 4.0 more scoreless frames on August 30 at home against Brooklyn, striking out 7 to earn the win. The 19-year-old Dominican lefthander allowed only 3 hits and 1 walk in his 8.0 innings during the week, holding opposing hitters to a .120 batting average and a .274 OPS. For the season, Cabral is1-6 with a 4.07 ERA, striking out 42 in 55.1 innings for the first-place Spinners.