For Immediate Release by milb.com August 7, 2017
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Minor League Baseball today announced its July Player of the Month Award winners for all leagues.
Each winner will receive an award from Minor League Baseball in recognition of the honor.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) outfielder Jake Cave led the International League in average (.390), hits (41), runs
scored (25) and total bases (70). He also finished in the top five in homers, RBI, extra-base hits, slugging and on-base percentage.
Cave hit safely in 24 of 26 July games and ended the month on a 15-game hitting streak. Cave, 24, was selected by the Yankees in
the 11th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, Virginia.
Las Vegas 51s (Mets) first baseman Dominic Smith led the Pacific Coast League in runs (28) and was second in extra-base hits
(21), total bases (79), slugging (.725) and OPS (1.162). He was in the top five in RBI (26) and home runs (eight). Smith reached
base safely in 24 of his 26 games in July and posted 16 multi-hit games. Smith, 22, was selected by New York in the first round of
the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Juniper Serra High School in Gardena, California.
Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) outfielder Jeremy Barfield led the Eastern League in home runs (12), RBI (33), runs (26), extra-base
hits (17), total bases (78), slugging (.709) and OPS (1.131), while finishing in the top five in hits (37), average (.336) and on-base
percentage (.422). Barfield ended the month with a 10-game hitting streak and homered in four straight games (July 23-26).
Barfield, 29, was originally selected by Oakland in the eighth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of San Jacinto College.
Chattanooga Lookouts (Twins) first baseman Jonathan Rodriguez led the Southern League in average (.383), hits (44), extra-base
hits (19), runs (28), total bases (75) and on-base percentage (.455), while tying for the league lead in doubles (13). He
finished in the top five in homers (six), RBI (22), walks (17), slugging (.652) and OPS (1.107) and recorded 14 multi-hit games.
Rodriguez, 27, was originally selected by St. Louis in the 17th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of the State College of
Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.
Arkansas Travelers (Mariners) outfielder Kyle Waldrop batted .374 over 30 Texas League games and led the loop in hits (43),
doubles (12) and total bases (61) while finishing in the top five in extra-base hits (14), on-base percentage (.409), slugging (.503)
and OPS (.940). Waldrop posted 15 multi-hit games in July and recorded hits in 25 of his 30 games. Waldrop, 25, was originally
selected by Cincinnati in the 12th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Riverdale High School in Fort Myers, Florida.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) catcher Austin Allen led the California League in hits (46), homers (10), RBI (32), total bases (85)
and slugging (.691), while finishing second in runs (27), extra-base hits (18) and OPS (1.089). Allen recorded 13 multi-hit games, a
trio of four-hit games and his 32 RBI were the second-most in professional baseball in July. Allen, 23, was selected by the Padres
in the fourth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of the Florida Institute of Technology.
Down East Wood Ducks (Rangers) center fielder Matt Lipka led the Carolina League in hits (38), RBI (23), extra-base hits (17)
and total bases (67) and finished second in doubles (10), slugging (.593) and OPS (.982). His average (.336) and home runs (five)
were good for third in the league. His 67 total bases were 14 more than any other player in the league. Lipka, 25, was originally
selected by Atlanta in Compensation Round A of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of McKinney (Texas) High School.
St. Lucie Mets first baseman Peter Alonso led the Florida State League in hits (39), runs (20), extra-base hits (15), total bases
(70), home runs (eight) and RBI (26) while batting .336 over 29 games. Alonso had 13 multi-hit games in July and posted separate
hitting streaks of seven and eight games. Alonso, 22, was selected by New York in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player
Draft out of the University of Florida.
Dayton Dragons (Reds) outfielder Jose Siri led the Midwest League in hits (43), home runs (10), slugging (.680), extra-base hits
(19) and total bases (85). Siri hit safely in all 28 games in July as part of his Midwest League record 39-game hitting streak and
posted 11 multi-hit games. His 85 total bases led the league by 22. Siri, 22, was signed by Cincinnati as a non-drafted free agent
out of Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic, in 2013.
Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles) left-hander Alex Wells went 3-0 and did not allow a run in five starts in July and led the South
Atlantic League in WHIP (0.42) and average against (.124) as he allowed just 13 hits in 31.0 innings without walking a batter.
Wells worked 6.0 innings or more in each start and did not allow more than four hits in any of his five outings. He has issued just
two walks over his last 12 starts through July. Wells, 20, was signed by Baltimore as a non-drafted free agent out of Newcastle,
New South Wales, Australia.
Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles) catcher Ben Breazeale led the New York-Penn League in hitting (.390), hits (39), total bases (55),
doubles (10), RBI (23) and on-base percentage (.462). He finished second in extra-base hits (12), slugging (.550) and OPS
(1.012). Breazeale, 22, was selected in the seventh round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Wake Forest University.
Everett AquaSox (Mariners) infielder Eugene Helder led the Northwest League in average (.374), hits (40) and runs (23) while
finishing in the top five in total bases (56), triples (four), RBI (22), on-base percentage (.434), slugging (.523) and OPS (958).
Helder drew 12 walks while striking out just 11 times. Helder, 21, was signed by Seattle as a non-drafted free agent out of
Oranjestad, Aruba, in 2014.
Bluefield Blue Jays first baseman Ryan Noda led the Appalachian League in hitting (.444), runs (32), walks (29), on-base
percentage (.580), slugging (.689), and OPS (1.269). He finished second in the league in hits (40) and third in extra-base hits (14)
and total bases (62). Noda, 21, was selected by Toronto in the 15th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University
of Cincinnati.
Ogden Raptors (Dodgers) outfielder Starling Heredia led the Pioneer Baseball League in average (.427), doubles (11), slugging
(.732) and OPS (1.221) while finishing second in extra-base hits (16) and total bases (60). His 35 hits and .489 on-base
percentage were good for third in the league. Heredia, 18, was signed as a non-drafted free agent by Los Angeles in 2016 out of
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Gulf Coast Blue Jays center fielder Dominic Abbadessa led the Gulf Coast League in average (.417) and hits (35), was second in
runs (21), on-base percentage (.457) and OPS (.968). Abbadessa recorded 12 multi-hit games in July and led the Blue Jays to an
18-8 record in the month. Abbadessa, 19, was selected by Toronto in the 23rd round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of
Huntington Beach (California) High School.
Arizona League Padres infielder Esteury Ruiz led the Arizona League in hits (32), extra-base hits (17), total bases (58) and triples
(five). He was in the top five in slugging (.624), runs (four) and doubles (10). Ruiz, 18, was originally signed by Kansas City as a
non-drafted free agent in 2016 out of Azua, Dominican Republic. He was traded to the Padres on July 24, 2017 as part of a six-player
trade.
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