The Norfolk Tides started the second week of the season at 3-3. By week’s end, they finished 8-4 for one of the best records in the International League, with a run differential of +27.
With expectations high for the 2022 season, Buck Britton has his team playing where fans expected, even after a 1-0 loss to end the week. There were many contributions from various players, but let’s take a look at the stand-outs for the week.
A returning star from last year’s stand-outs is one The Baltimore Battery never gets tired of talking about. Tyler Nevin is back, and after his strong week, he makes our list again.
All Nevin did was go 9-for-25 (.360) this week. He collected at least one hit in five of the six games played and had three multi-hit games for the week.
On the 15th, a Tides 14-7 win, Nevin would go 3-for-6 with his first homer of the season and drove in eight runs on the day in leading Norfolk to victory.
For the season Nevin is leading the team with a .344 batting average and 14 RBIs. We look forward to seeing what Nevin will do next to surprise us and help the Tides win.
Nevin wasn’t the only player catching our eye this week. Terrin Vavra turned in a strong week for the Tides.
Vavra would play in every game this week, collecting eight hits in 24 at-bats for a .333 average, totalling nine bases and picking up nine walks.
On April 13, Vavra would go 3-for-4 with a walk and double, while scoring two runs in leading the Tides to a 5-1 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
For the season, Vavra is batting .304, as he leads the team with 14 hits and 46 at-bats, while tied for the team-lead in triples and walks.
Kyle Stowers had a monster start to the week, collecting six hits in his first 14 at-bats (.429).
Helping lead the team to three victories against the RailRiders to start the week, Stowers would hit his first two home runs of the season, while collecting seven RBIs for the week.
One of the biggest things catching the eyes of coaches with Stowers this year is his strikeouts are down tremendously. Across 20 at-bats this week, he would only strike out four times.
As Stowers starts to take off offensively, this change will help him make his way to the bigs sooner rather than later. He is already on the verge. For the year, Stowers is batting .381 with an astounding 1.424 OPS and seven RBIs.
Of course, hitting wasn’t the only stellar performances from the week. Pitching was a contributing factor in Norfolk going 5-1 this week as well.
We can’t talk about Tides pitching without bringing up the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, Grayson Rodriguez, who notched his second start of the year, picking up the win in a 12-5 victory over the RailRiders.
Rodriguez would pitch five innings, striking out eight batters along the way. Though he did give up two runs, the Tides were well ahead when Rodriguez would exit the game.
On the season, Rodriguez has now pitched nine innings, striking out 15 and walking just one batter. His WHIP on the year sits at a miniscule 0.56, as he is pacing Norfolk easily in both strikeouts and WHIP.
Kyle Bradish would pick up his first win of the season, a 5-1 triumph over, in which he held opposing batters to two hits across five innings of work.
Though he would give up his first run of the season, his ERA sits at 1.00, with a WHIP of 0.67.
Nick Vespi would appear in two games this week out of the bullpen. He would pitch two innings, collecting a save and striking out five of the six batters he faced.
On the year, Vespi has now pitched 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts, good for a 0.00 ERA and a 0.23 WHIP.
With the Norfolk Tides rolling into their regularly scheduled off day, their season has started off strong, with many players making a big impact along the way.
The Tides will host the Durham Bulls starting Tuesday. What players will make their stamp on the week, and what stars will shine the brightest?
Who do you think will stand out this week? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter! And, make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
Like Stephen’s content? Follow him on Twitter – @SrHeckman
The Baltimore Battery 