June 7, 2012 at 2:29 AM
Players of the Week, May 28-June 3: Travis Shaw & Ruben Flores
Last week's SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the Week honors were taken by a pair of Salem Red Sox: Travis Shaw and Ruben Flores.
Shaw wasn't the nominee with the highest batting average (.370) or the highest on-base percentage (.500) but what he brought to the plate was power (slugging .889) with six of his ten hits (in 27 at-bats)going for extra bases, four home runs and two doubles. He also scored eight runs and batted in 12, took six bases-on-balls and swiped a base. Shaw is second, to teammate Jackie Bradley, in the Carolina League in batting average at .337 and has an on-base percentage of .427 and is slugging .574 to round out his season triple slash line, with seven home runs, 18 doubles and three triples in 190 at-bats over 52 games. He is the twenty-eighth ranked prospect in the organization by SoxProspects.com.
Flores made two appearances last week, working three no-hit shutout innings in each and fell just short of perfection by allowing a single base-on-balls. It was nine-up-nine-down for Flores at Lynchburg (ATL) May 30 where he struck out five and earned the win and three days later back home against Myrtle Beach (TEX) June 2 when he was less flashy but almost equally effective, walking one and striking out one. On the season Flores owns a 1-0 record with two saves and a 2.01 ERA in 13 appearances over 22.1 innings pitched, striking out 24 while walking only two and holding opposing batters to a .156 average. Flores, 28, was signed out of the independent Frontier League in September 2011 and is a former 12th round pick of Seattle in 2003.