A pair of former Commodores earned prestigious honors this week from their respective teams with Pedro Alvarez and Corey Williams being recognized.
Alvarez was named the National League’s Player of the Week for the Pittsburgh Pirates after going 11-for-24 (.458) with four home runs to push his season total to 27 round trippers. Alvarez’s big game (two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored) last Tuesday helped the Pirates down the St. Louis Cardinals in a key game in the race for the NL Wild Card. He followed up Tuesday’s performance with another homer and three more RBI on Wednesday to secure the Pirates’ series victory over St. Louis.
The award is Alvarez’s second of his career with the first coming in 2010, his rookie year.
Williams was honored Tuesday by the Minnesota Twins with the Harmon Killebrew Award for Community Service. The Twins present the award to the player who shows the commitment to the community through service and volunteering, as well as having strong leadership skills on and off the field. Williams wrapped up his first full professional season with Twins’ Single-A affiliate the Beloit Snappers this week. The lefty appeared in 47 games going 4-4 with 17 saves and a 3.47 ERA. He struck out 68 batters in 62.1 innings.
Dores in the Pros News and Notes…
Former Dore Sonny Gray made his Triple-A debut on Monday afternoon for the Sacramento River Cats (Oakland). Gray allowed four runs on 10 hits in four innings of work… Curt Casali and Drew VerHagen are in the Single-A Florida State League playoffs with the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit). The team is one win away from playing in the FSL Championship Series… Lefty Sam Selman was tabbed the Pioneer League’s Pitcher of the Year after cruising through the circuit with a 2.09 ERA in 13 games with 89 strikeouts in 60.1 innings for the Idaho Falls Chukars (Kansas City)… Navery Moore gets the ball tonight for the Rome Braves (Atlanta) in their Single-A South Atlantic League playoff opener against the Asheville Tourists (Colorado), the team of former Dore right-hander Russell Brewer… Bryan Johns finished his first season of pro ball with the Single-A Salem Red Sox. Johns played for three different teams at three different levels of the Boston system in his first season… Anthony Gomez will suit up for the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers (Miami) as they enter the South Atlantic League playoffs. Gomez was promoted to Greensboro prior to the end of the season… Antoan Richardson leads the Double-A Bowie Baysox (Baltimore) into the Eastern League playoffs… Chase Reid will pitch for the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis) as the Cards enter the Double-A Texas League playoffs this week… Jensen Lewis will be in the bullpen for the Reno Aces (Arizona) as they take on Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League playoffs starting tonight.
For a full list of Dores in the Pros click here.