The Aberdeen IronBirds were back in action this week against the Phillies’ High-A affiliate, the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
It was a top to bottom domination by the IronBirds, who came out victorious in five out of six games this series.
In each game, besides the single 1-0 loss, the IronBirds scored at least five runs and even scored nine in game one and 12 in game five. The offense was really clicking on all cyclinders this week, although for this lineup, that’s something we should get used to.
Matthew Etzel had maybe the series of his young career so far. In 21 at-bats, Etzel hit safely eight times, with four singles, three doubles and a home run. This week netted Etzel five RBIs to go along with four walks.
Etzel had a slugging percentage alone of .667 this week. Oh yeah, he also walked off game six with a double on Sunday.
To go along with the offensive domination of Etzel was Creed Willems. No surprise, right? Willems showed once again this week why he is on his way to being one of the best catching prospects in the game.
Willems added another five hits to his season total, including his sixth home run on the year, and it’s not even May yet. His OPS is now up to .979 for the young season, with his average at .297.
So far, Willems has more multi-hit games (5) than he does hitless games (4). He also has more multi-RBI games (5) than he does RBI-less games (4).
A name that has been falling under the radar still offensively is Tavian Joesnberger, a third-round pick in 2023, the 100th pick overall.
It took a few games to get the University of Arkansas alumni going, but he sure is going now. Unfortunately, with Enrique Bradfield Jr. hitting the injured list, we will also get to see Josenberger patrolling center more.
This past week, Josenberger recorded five of his 11 total hits for the year, including two doubles and a triple. What’s been impressive so far is his batter’s eye, which has helped him double his walks (16) to strikeouts (8). When the bat gets comfortable to go along with that eye, this can be a very good hitting outfield prospect.
Jalen Vasquez is somewhat unknown to O’s fans, and he deserves some love after this week. The 601st selection in the 2023 draft, Vasquez has had a good start to his pro career. This week, he shined, as he totaled seven hits, including a home run, while stealing four bases.
The pitching again was up to the task this week. First, let’s talk about the best duo in High-A baseball once again just dominating. That duo is Juan Nuñez and Moisés Chace.
On Saturday, Nuñez started the day with a five-inning outing that saw no runs scored, with just three hits and a season-high five strikeouts.
In relief was Chace, who recorded the four-out save, giving up just two hits and no runs. The walks were still a little high at three, but he did strike out three as well.
This duo of Nunez and Chace has ERAs of 1.27 and 1.13, respectively.
Outside of a rough outing for Edgar Portes, the rest of the pitching staff didn’t allow more than three runs each during the week. Teddy Sharkey added another win to his season total, and Juan De Los Santos got back on track with just one run allowed across two appearances.
Here are your final scores for this past week:
Game 1: ABD 9, JS 2
Game 2: ABD 5, JS 4
Game 3: ABD 0, JS 1
Game 4: ABD 5, JS 0
Game 5: ABD 12, JS 7
Game 6: ABD 7, JS 6
The IronBirds fly back into action on the road against the Brooklyn Cyclones, the High-A affiliate for the New York Mets. This series begins on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. EST.
Who stood out to you this week for Aberdeen? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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