May 3, 2012 at 2:17 AM
Players of the Week, April 23-29: Matt Barnes and Jackie Bradley
Last week Matt Barnes won an unprecedented fourth SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week award in a row, and was joined by Jackie Bradley Jr. for his first Player of the Week honor.
Barnes bade farewell to Greenville in what has become his signature stylr, striking out eight opposing batters at Lakewood (Phillies) April 29 over 5.2 innings, allowing a single run on three hits. Earlier in the week at Delmarva (Orioles) April 23, Barnes worked five shutout innings allowing three hits, walking two and striking out nine. Both outings resulted in No-Decisions. On the season Barnes owns a 2-0 record with a 0.34 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched over five starts, allowing only a single run on 12 hits for a .130 average against and striking out 42 while walking only four.
Jackie Bradley Jr. racked up 13 hits over 27 at bats in seven games last week and took five bases on balls, good for a .481 average and .576 on base percentage. He ensured that that stat line wasn't empty either by bashing three doubles and a triple and once he reached base he didn't stop there, swiping four bases and coming around to score eight runs. So far in 2012 Bradley his hitting .349/.459/.500 (30-for-86) with one home run, eight doubles and one triple in 23 games with Salem. He also has a positive walk to strikeout ratio of 18:16 and has stolen 10 bases while only being caught once.
Barnes is currently ranked fourth in the Red Sox system by SoxProspects.com and Bradley is ranked thirteenth.
Relatedly, Salem's Brandon Workman was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Week.