Astros Future Player of the Week: Ronnie Dawson
Another week is in the books, and as usual it was filled with plenty of ups and downs. Some players and teams started out hot and cooled down a little, and others did the opposite. In the end, as is the case most weeks, a few players stood out above the rest. Astros Future Player of the Week is Quad Cities River Bandits Ronnie Dawson.
Dawson had a very productive week in the Midwest League for the River Bandits. The 21-year old went 9-for-27, with a double, three home runs, and seven RBI. He had an 11-game hitting streak up until Thursday’s action, and he also had at least one RBI in his last four games. Dawson raised his season batting average from .218 to .256 this week and is hitting .318 over his last 10 games.
The Houston Astros selected Dawson in the second round of the 2016 draft. From there he started his professional baseball journey playing for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League. He played in 70 games for the ValleyCats, and although he hit .225 when the season ended, he showed plenty signs of his potential. I was fortunate enough to see him play several games there and at times he looked really good. Dawson finished the season with four home runs and 13 RBI.
This season Dawson was assigned to the Quad Cities River Bandits. He was off to a slow start until about mid-April and has been hitting well since then. Dawson certainly had ability to get on base last year, but the start of the season he seemed to struggle drawing just two walks in his first 15 games. He drew four walks this past week so he appears to be trending in the right direction.
Quad Cities had a down week this week going 3-4. They are currently finishing up a 4-game road trip against the Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners), before returning to Modern Woodman Park for a 6-game home stand.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Preston Tucker who is currently playing for the Fresno Grizzlies had a pretty good week. Tucker went 8-for-21 driving in three for the struggling Grizzlies who have lost three in a row and four out of their last five. Even with the struggles there are a few players on that team that are doing their part. Tucker’s teammate Colin Moran had himself a week and was considered for the weekly honors. Moran was 7-for-19 with two homers and eight driven in.
Another week, another good performance by Kyle Tucker. Beaten out by a small margin last week to Alejandro Garcia, Tucker built on his recent success at Buies Creek turning in another good performance. This week he went 7-for-20 with five RBI. He is batting .311 on the season and just had a 6-game hit streak snapped on Thursday night. One of Tucker’s Buies Creek mates had a hot start this week. Although he appeared in just seven games, Eduardo de Oleo hit three bombs and drove in five runs.
Andrew Thome picked up two win for Corpus Christi this week striking out three in 5.1 innings. Another pitcher that put up decent numbers this past week is Brett Adcock. The River Bandits pitcher went 8.2 innings and struck out 10 allowing just one earned run. Buies Creek’s Ralph Garza did well too throwing three innings giving up just one hit while striking out seven.
THIS WEEKS TEAM RECORDS
Fresno Grizzlies: 2-4
Corpus Christi Hooks: 3-4
Buies Creek Astros: 3-3
Quad Cities River Bandits: 3-4
Overall Record: 11-15
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**Photo Credit: Richard Guill**
