July 7, 2011 at 1:39 AM
Players of the Week, 6/27-7/3: Bryce Brentz & Kyle Weiland
While both this week's SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the Week honorees are worthy winners, their margins of victory were polar opposites: Salem's Bryce Brentz narrowly prevailed by four votes in the former poll while Pawtucket's Kyle Weiland received all but three votes in the latter.
Brentz's strong performance was powered by four home runs, but he also doubled, drove in eight runners, scored six times and stole a base en route to posting a .375/.464/.917 line in 24 at-bats over 6 games last week. He was also named Carolina League Player of the Week for the same period. On the season Brentz is batting .335/.386/.653 in 245 at-bats over 59 games (40 with Greenville, 19 with Salem) with 19 home runs, 13 doubles and four triples. This is Brentz's second Player of the Week award in 2011, having previously won for May 9-15.
Kyle Weiland bid adieu to June in style, taking the hill against Rochester (Twins) the 29th and limiting them to a single base runner (one hit) and allowing an unearned run while striking out 12 in eight innings of work and earning the win. In 17 starts in 2011, Weiland has compiled an 8-6 record with a 3.00 ERA, allowing 31 earned runs on 69 hits, striking out 99 while walking 37 and holding opposing batters to a .206 average. He is the eighth ranked prospect in the organization by SoxProspects.com, Brentz is ranked tenth.
Honorable mention: Lowell's Travis Shaw who narrowly lost out to Brentz was named last week's NY-Penn League Player of the Week.