Guardians Baseball Insider

It was a rough week for the RubberDucks in their first trip to Bowie since mid April. They dropped the first four games of the series scoring just seven runs across those games. While many ‘Ducks struggled, the middle infield duo of Jose Tena and Brayan Rocchio stayed hot. The bullpen, which has been reeling for a month also rebounded a little bit but was unable to be a part of a win until Sunday’s 9-0 victory.

Day-by-Day

7/13/22: Bowie 6, Akron 5; W: Elliott; L: Vargas
7/14/22: (F/7) Bowie 2, Akron 0; W: Bradish; L: Bibee; S: Stauffer
7/14/22: (F/7) Bowie 9, Akron 1; W: Prizina; L: Oviedo
7/15/22: Bowie 2, Akron 1; W: Stallings; L: Burns
7/16/22: PPD (Rain)
7/17/22: Akron 9, Bowie 0; W: Williams; L: Watson

Player of the Week

IF Jose Tena: 7-17, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K

It’s been a struggle for Jose Tena to become a threat at the plate this year but he’s started to show some power recently. He socked two homers against Bowie as four of his seven round trippers have come in the last eight games.

Who’s Hot

IF Brayan Rocchio: 7-20, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 7 K

Rocchio has been scorching for a month now and he boosted his season OPS to .783 after a nice week at Bowie. In addition to his two homers he made this impressive defensive play during Wednesday’s game:

RHP Gavin Williams: 5 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 8 K

Williams helped propel the ‘Ducks to their only win of the week with five scoreless innings. He continues to find himself with high pitch counts as his average start length is just below five innings but he still has yet to get hit hard at any level of pro ball. 

OF Julian Escobedo: 6-12, RBI, 3 BB, K, 2 SB

Escobedo only made 15 plate appearances during the week but made the most of them getting on base nine times. He also stole a pair of bases to push his total to 13 on the season. 

Who’s Not

IF Micah Pries: 1-15, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K, SB

Pries has come back down to earth after an extremely hot run of play that lasted all of June and a few games into July. He had just one hit against Bowie and is now 1-27 over his last eight games. 

IF Raynel Delgado: 1-12, BB, 4 K

Delgado has been a very streaky hitter in his first month in Double-A. After a solid series at home against Altoona where he snapped an 0-31 streak, he struggled again last week in Maryland. 

RHP Kyle Marman: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 HR, 3 ER, 2 K

After a reasonable first two months of the season, Marman has quickly lost the ability to keep the baseball in the park. He’s surrendered 17 runs and six homers over his last 7.2 innings dating back to June 21. 

Transactions

7/14/22: RHP Zach Hart assigned to Lake County Captains from Akron RubberDucks

7/14/22: LHP Randy Labaut assigned to Lake County Captains from Akron RubberDucks

7/14/22: Akron Rubberducks activated C Seth Caddell

7/15/22: Akron RubberDucks placed 3B Jhonkensy Noel on the temporary inactive list

7/15/22: Akron RubberDucks placed OF George Valera on the temporary inactive list

On ‘Duck

7/22/22: vs Erie, 7:05 PM

7/23/22: vs Erie, 7:05 PM

7/24/22: vs Erie, 2:05 PM