Phillips Named International League Pitcher of the Week

LOUISVILLE, KY –TheLouisville Bats, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball, today announced right-handed pitcher Connor Phillips has been named theInternational League Pitcher of the Week for July 17 – 23.

Phillips, rated theNo. 7 prospect in theReds organization by MLB Pipeline, made one start on the week, tossing 7.0 shutout innings on July 21 vs Columbus, giving up just three hits while striking out 11 and walking only two. It was a career day for Phillips, marking his first career win at the Triple-A level while also marking career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts in a game.

With the effort, Phillips also set the new high-water mark by a Bats starter this season with his 11 strikeouts, topping the previous high of nine set by Andrew Abbott, and became the first Bats pitcher to record double digit strikeouts since T.J. Zeuch on August 2, 2022.

Theweekly award marks thethird for a Bats playerin 2023 and thefirst for a pitcher since Robert Dugger earned the honor for the weekof July 25 – 31, 2022. Phillips joins Matt McLain (5/1 – 5/7) and Christian Encarnacion-Strand (6/5 – 6/11) as Louisville Bats players to win weekly awards this season.