Wil Myers Named IL Player of the Week
Durham Bulls outfielder Wil Myers has been named International League Batter of the Week for the period from May 27 - June 2. Myers becomes the fourth Bulls player (Belnome, Odorizzi, Colome) to win an IL weekly award this year, which is more than any other club. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's Chien-Ming Wang was named IL Pitcher of the Week.
Tampa Bay's top prospect hit .423 over the past seven days and the led the International League with four home runs, 15 RBI, and a 1.038 slugging percentage. He wasted little time making an impact this week, homering and collecting 5 RBI in the first inning of Monday's game against Buffalo. Helping the Bulls to a 9-8 comeback victory on Tuesday, Myers crushed what might have been the longest homer ever hit at the DBAP in the 7th inning before tying the game with another homer in the 9th. He hit his team-leading 10th round tripper on Sunday and collected 3 more RBI, giving him 46 on the season (2nd in IL).
Myers, a Thomasville, NC native, was the Tampa Bay Rays' key acquisition in an offseason trade which sent James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City. The 22 year-old was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, USA Today, and Topps/Minor League Baseball. Myers blasted 37 home runs last season, second most in all of Minor League Baseball, becoming just the third player in history to homer that many times above the Single-A level before turning 22.