The Aberdeen IronBirds are finally at the .500 mark with their sights set on more. After winning their previous two series, the Birds had their sights set on a third straight series win against the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Though Aberdeen wouldn’t lose the series, they split the six games and remained at the .500 mark. The IronBirds are 26-22 since Jackson Holliday’s arrival in April.
All three IronBirds’ victories were in walk-off fashion, as they added a little excitement this week. A different hero was at the forefront of each walk-off.
As exciting a week as it was for the team, let’s see who stood out in this series for Aberdeen.
LUIS VALDEZ – OF
Young outfielder Luis Valdez continued his strong June with a 5-for-13 (.385 avg) series against the Cyclones. Of his five hits, three went for extra bases, as Valdez also stole four bases in the series.
In Wednesday’s 5-4 loss, Valdez would go 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Though he was unable to score, his speed was a welcome sight on the basepaths.
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For the series, Valdez saw his average rise .025 points on the season. He is now hitting .204/.261/.299 and is now slashing .333/.405/.515 for the month of June. Valdez has one home run, nine doubles, a triple and 15 RBIs on the season.
Valdez has scored 26 runs and stolen 32 bases across 49 games this year. Since arriving at the organization in 2021, Valdez has stolen 124 bases out of 144 attempts (86.1%) in 199 career games.
DYLAN BEAVERS – OF
Beavers would go 6-for-19, including a double, two home runs and four walks against the Cyclones. He would score three times and knock in eight runs for the series.
Beavers’ best game came in Tuesday’s 8-7 victory. In the game, Beavers would go 4-for-5, falling a triple short of the cycle. He also picked up a run scored and four RBIs as he helped to guide his team to victory.
On the season, Beavers is now slashing .228/.324/.398 across 56 games. He has hit five home runs with 28 RBIs. Beavers also had 19 stolen bases and 23 runs scored over the season.
ALEX PHAM – RHP
Pham returns to our standouts even though he collected a loss in his outing. Another strong performance on the mound wasn’t enough, as the IronBirds’ offense failed to score in the game.
Pham would go six innings, allowing just one hit, a solo home run. He walked two and struck out nine as he took the loss for the game.
For the season, Pham drops to 3-3 across 12 games (10 starts). He has accumulated a 2.45 ERA across 51.1 innings with 76 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .163 against Pham and his WHIP is 1.05.
Pham’s hot stretch has earned him a promotion to Double-A Bowie, along with fellow pitchers Jean Pinto and Keegan Gillies and slugging outfielder Jud Fabian.
Joining Aberdeen from Delmarva will be 22-year-old right-hander Juan Nuñez. In 13 games this season, the Dominican native is 0-4 with a 3.93 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 72 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched.
The IronBirds will enjoy a day off on Monday before heading to Delaware to take on their out of state rivals, the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Will Aberdeen finally climb above .500, or will the Blue Rocks overtake them in the standings? It all starts Tuesday at 6:35 p.m EST.
Who stood out to you for Aberdeen this week? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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