Offensive Players of the Week

Here's a look at the top offensive performers in each league for the week ending May 3:

International League
Carlos Sanchez, Charlotte
(.484/.529/.839, 7 G, 15-for-31, 5 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 3 SB)
This is the second time this season that Sanchez has nabbed an Offensive Player of the Week award in the IL, and this one is undoubtedly more impressive. It looked the like the pinnacle of his week would come Friday when the 22-year-old switch-hitting second baseman went 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles, only to best himself the following evening by going 4-for-4 with two homers, a double and a career-high seven RBIs. In fact, all of his hits last week came in his last five games, giving him 15 hits in his last 23 at-bats. Sanchez unsurprisingly leads the IL with a .407 average this season and is also tied at the top with 10 doubles. A return to the White Sox, with whom he started the season, might not be far off.

Pacific Coast League
Ronny Cedeno, Sacramento
(.444/.545/1.000, 5 G, 8-for-18, 4 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 SB)
The Giants inked Cedeno, a career .331 hitter at Triple-A, to a Minor League deal in February to provide infield depth in their system. He hasn't yet contributed to the defending World Series champs directly, but the 32-year-old veteran is at least holding down the fort for Sacramento. Cedeno has hits in eight straight games following last week's impressive run, during which he hit his first two homers of the 2015 season. He's got a .291/.344/.453 line and might not be a bad callup option should the Giants lose either Joe Panik or Brandon Crawford to injury, even if Cedeno isn't yet on the 40-man roster. 

Eastern League
Josh Bell, Altoona
(.615/.613/.962, 6 G, 16-for-26, 3 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 1 SB, 1 CS)
There was a stretch during Altoona's series with Erie when Bell wasn't just a big part of the Curve offense -- he was the Curve offense. The Pirates' No. 3 prospect drove in all of the team's seven runs its first two games against the SeaWolves and added two more in a perfect 3-for-3 day during Sunday's 7-4 victory to complete the sweep. He had multiple hits in five of his six contests, and in the one game he had only one hit, it may have been his biggest. Bell connected on his first Double-A homer Saturday -- a three-run walk-off shot -- to complete a five-RBI night. The 22-year-old switch-hitter, who is playing first base full-time for the first time in the Minors, has an incredible .395/.452/.568 line with the homer, four triples, three doubles and 15 RBIs through 20 games this season. While he's still adjusting to life in the infield, MLB.com's No. 34 overall prospect is showing why the Pirates think so highly of his bat.

Southern League
Byron Buxton, Chattanooga
(.483/.543/.828, 7 G, 14-for-29, 2 2B, 4 3B, 5 RBI, 11 R, 5 BB, 3 K, 5 SB)
You'd be forgiven for wondering about when Buxton, who missed most of 2014 due to wrist injuries and a concussion, would find his form this season. Wonder no longer. MLB.com's top prospect entered the week batting just .190 at Double-A Chattanooga and finished it with a .287 average after a seven-game stretch that helped him capture his third career Player of the Week honor -- the last coming July 21, 2014, at Class A Advanced Fort Myers. He had a hit in each of his seven contests last week, and in a particularly good sign in terms of both hitting ability and speed, he has collected four triples over his last four games, two of which came Saturday night. "He's still got a long way to go, but he's getting rewarded for putting good swings on the ball," Chattanooga manager Doug Mientkiewicz told MiLB.com. "Hopefully he keeps doing what he's been doing the last week. We're starting to see him relax and just play the game."

Texas League
Balbino Fuenmayor, NW Arkansas
(.556/.556/.815, 6 G, 15-for-27, 4 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 6 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 SB)
Fuenmayor might have the coolest story of anyone on this week's list of honorees. The 25-year-old first baseman spent seven seasons mired in the Blue Jays system, none of them higher than the Class A level. He hit .208 with a .683 OPS in 26 games during his final season at Class A Lansing in 2013 and moved on to the independent Canadian-American Association last year, where he hit .347 with 23 homers and 99 RBIs. An impressive turn in the Venezuelan Winter League (.315 average, 10 homers) earned him a contract with the Royals, and now despite never having played at Class A Advanced, he's tearing up the Texas League. The right-handed slugger's most impressive game came Sunday when he went 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs. Through 20 games with the Naturals, Fuenmayor ranks sixth in the Texas League with a .363 average and ninth with a .944 OPS. 

California League
Jordan Patterson, Modesto
(.542/.577/.917, 6 G, 13-for-24, 6 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 SB, 1 CS)
It's constant theme in this space to talk about hitting streaks and on-base streaks because they're indicative of how consistently good a player has been in the stretch in which he won this award. Try this streak on for size. Patterson has an eight-game double streak. That's right, the Rockies' No. 22 prospect has hit one double in eight straight games. After batting .298 with an .834 OPS in the second half of last season at Class A Asheville, the 2013 fourth-rounder has carried that momentum to Modesto, where he has a .356/.440/.667 line with three homers and 17 RBIs in his first 23 games. (Interesting note: Patterson has reached more often via a hit-by-pitch (eight times) than he has on a walk (five).)

Carolina League
Sam Travis, Salem
(.542/.538/.708, 6 G, 13-for-24, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 SB, 1 CS)
The Red Sox took Travis in the second round (67th overall) out of Indiana University last June, and though he checks in as the No. 15 prospect in their system now, there were signs -- exclusively on the offensive side -- before the season started that he could be the next guy to move up the ranks quickly. Those signs are starting to come to fruition in the Carolina League, where the right-handed-hitting first baseman had multiple hits in five of his six games last week. In that stretch, his season average has climbed from .182 to .291 with his slugging percentage also making a jump from .291 to .418. The four doubles were also encouraging signs considering Travis had only four extra-base hits total in his first 15 games with Salem. 

Florida State League
Andrew Knapp, Clearwater
(.375/.483/.625, 6 G, 9-for-24, 2 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 9 R, 4 BB, 4 K)
The Phillies' No. 13 prospect is coming off a season in which he was named an Organization All-Star, and after his best week yet in the Florida State League, his overall numbers (.280/.327/.387) are starting to resemble those from 2014 (.260/.324/.385). Most interestingly, Knapp, a 30-grade runner per MLB.com, tripled twice last week, pushing his total for the season to three -- tied for second-most in the FSL at this juncture. Now fully recovered from Tommy John surgery in October 2013, this season presents a chance for the 23-year-old backstop to prove he can handle both sides of the plate before climbing the ladder.

Midwest League
Mott Hyde, Quad Cities
(.500/.577/.773, 6 G, 11-for-22, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 CS)
We've already claimed Patterson as the King of the Double here this week, but for the season, Hyde has a legitimate claim to that throne. With four two-baggers last week, the 2014 26th-rounder out of Georgia Tech is tied with fellow Astros prospect Carlos Correa as well as Salt Lake's Kyle Kubitza and Las Vegas' Matt Reynolds for the Minor League lead in the category. The 23-year-old shortstop's big week also pushed him into fifth in the Midwest League with a .347 average and second with a .995 OPS, trailing only teammate Derek Fisher (.999). 

South Atlantic League
Jonah Arenado, Augusta
(.455/.520/.773, 6 G, 10-for-22, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB, 2 K)
Having played in the Rookie-level Arizona League each of the last two seasons, Arenado, the younger brother of Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, has been slow in his development since being taken in the 16th round. But the 20-year-old third baseman from the Giants system is showing signs that he's plenty capable of competing at the full-season level now. His homer on Thursday was his fourth of the season. (That's after two seasons and 62 games of homerless ball in the AZL.) For the season, Arenado has a .318/.351/.511 line with the four homers and 17 RBIs in 24 games for the GreenJackets.