Astros Future Player of the Week: Carmen Benedetti
As the second half of the season for the minor leagues is underway, and the pomp and circumstance of almost all the All Star games is behind us, its time we dive back in and pick the Player of the Week. A few of the Astros minor league teams have jumped out to decent starts, but none better than the Quad Cities River Bandits. After finishing the first half of the season 37-31 (3rd place), they are sitting atop the Midwest Leagues Western Division. They are 12-4 so far which includes being 7-0 this week. They are unbeaten so far in the month of July and have had plenty of players chip in. One that has stood out for me is Carmen Benedetti. Benedetti went 14-for-26 (.538) this week, scoring nine runs, while hitting four doubles, walking six times, and driving in eight. For that he has been named Astros Future Player of the Week for the week of July 1st – July 7th.
Since returning from the disabled list on July 1st, all Benedetti has done is hit. He has hit in nine of his last 10 games and has seen his batting average raise from .271 to .316 in that span. In 47 games that he’s played in this season, he has recorded 48 hits with two home runs and 26 RBI. While power has been in his repertoire yet, the ability to work walks and to not strike out has been. His OBP this season is .450 and his has more walks than strike outs, which to me is impressive for a younger player.
The Houston Astros selected Benedetti in the 12th round of the 2016 draft. He started his professional career playing in my backyard with the Tri-City ValleyCats. He played in 41 games and ended the season hitting .309. He played one game at first base last season with the rest being played in right field. This season he has played right and left fields with more games coming in right. He has also been the designated hitter a few times as well.
Congratulations to Carmen Benedetti for being named Astros Future Player of the Week for the week of July 1st to July 7th.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A few of Benedetti’s teammates on the ValleyCats last year had themselves good weeks as well. Stephen Wrenn who is now playing up at Buies Creek, went 10-for-24 (.417), with four runs, two doubles, two home runs, and six RBI. In a week that saw Buies Creek go 5-2, there was another player on that team worthy of a mention as well. Spencer Johnson went 7-for-22 (.318) with four of those seven hits being homers. He scored five times and drove in five as well
A couple of Astros pitching prospects made their debuts at higher levels this week with plenty of success. Rogelio Armenteros was assigned to the Fresno Grizzlies and picked up his first career win in Triple-A. He went six very strong innings giving up just two hits with eight strikeouts. Forrest Whitley, the Astros first round pick in 2016, made his debut with the Buies Creek Astros this week. In his first appearance he went five innings without allowing a hit. He surrendered just one walk, but struck out nine without allowing a run, picking up his first win.
Quad Cities River Bandits pitcher Abdiel Saldana pitched twice this week winning both games. In his 12 innings of work he allowed just one run and struck out 10. He is 5-1 in 2017 with an ERA of 3.08. Patrick Sandoval who is a 20-year old that has been in the Astros organization since 2015, is now playing for the ValleyCats. He made two appearances this week going 10 innings with 17 strikeouts.
**Photo Credit: Richard Guill**
