June 22, 2011 at 2:11 AM
Players of the Week, June 13-19: Ryan Lavarnway & Keith Couch
In this past week Pawtucket's Ryan Lavarnway and Greenville's Keith Couch bested the competition and their peers in the polls and on the field en route to earning SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the Week honors respectively.
Couch made two starts last week, shutting out Charleston (NYY) June 13 and earning the win on the road, scattering three hits over six innings of work while walking none and striking out six; and allowing a single earned run on four hits against Savannah (NYM) June 18, striking out six and walking only one. His combined line for the week was 2-0 with an 0.82 ERA (one earned run on seven hits) and a .184 opponents' batting average. In 2011 Couch is 2-1 with three saves a 3.34 ERA, having allowed 21 earned runs on 64 hits in 56.2 innings over 14 games (four starts), striking out 57 while walking only seven and holding opposing batters to a .287 average.
Ryan Lavarnway did his best to show that he belongs at AAA, posting a .417/.481/.792 slash line with two home runs and three doubles in his first week with Pawtucket. He did the majority of his damage June 17 against Lehigh Valley (PHI), going three-for-three with two home runs, scoring three runs, batting in four and taking a base on balls. Combined on the season Lavarnway is batting .297/.370/.534 with 16 home runs and eight doubles in 236 at-bats over 62 games. This is Lavarnway's second Player of the Week win in 2011 having previously won for the week of May 23-29 and he is currently the ninth ranked prospect in the organization by SoxProspects.com.