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Offensive Players of the Week

For the week ending Aug. 17
August 18, 2014

Here's a look at the top offensive performers in each league for the week ending Aug. 17:

International League
Mike Fontenot, Durham
(.542/.538/.833, 6 G, 13-for-24, 5 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K)
The 34-year-old infielder spent all of last season with Durham, signed with the Nationals in the offseason, was cut in March and then re-signed with the Rays and is spending a second straight season with the Bulls. He was expected to bring veteran depth, but last week, he did a little more than that. Fontenot collected a season-high four hits and four RBIs on Tuesday and then matched the hit total two days later, both times against Rochester. His average is up to .280 -- its highest level since May 7 -- to go with a .353 OBP and .364 slugging percentage across 104 games with the Bulls. After playing at second base most of the year, Fontenot has received most of his starts at third and DH following the Rays' deadline-day acquisition of Nick Franklin.

Pacific Coast League
Xavier Scruggs, Memphis
(.458/.519/1.000, 6 G, 11-for-24, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP)
The Redbirds have owned this spot lately. Scruggs' selection makes it three straight weeks in which a Memphis player has won this weekly award. Personally, this is the 26-year-old first baseman's fifth Player of the Week award and first in his first Triple-A season. The right-handed slugger is riding a 12-game hitting streak that's driven his season line up to .283/.366/.489 with 18 homers and 81 RBIs in 120 games.
Scruggs hits second homer

Eastern League
Keury De La Cruz, Portland
(.688/.737/1.188, 5 G, 11-for-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 SB)
De La Cruz shot up prospect rankings after the 2012 season when he owned a .308/.352/.536 line with 20 homers and 20 steals at Class A Greenville and Class A Advanced Salem. A difficult 2013 (.696 OPS) at Salem sent him back down, but weeks like this last one are causes for optimism. The 22-year-old outfielder collected multiple hits in four of the five games he played for the Sea Dogs last week and now owns an average above .300 (.303 to be exact) for the first time since June 30. After missing all of May and June with a broken wrist suffered in Spring Training, De La Cruz has a .303/.330/.438 line with five homers and 24 RBIs in 57 games during his first trip to the Eastern League. If he can come close to repeating last week's success over the last few games and into the EL playoffs, he'll close the 2014 season on quite the high note.
De La Cruz hits solo homer

Southern League
Brandon Drury, Mobile
(.500/.556/.792, 6 G, 12-for-24, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K)
When players get late-season promotions like the one Drury got from Class A Advanced Visalia to Double-A Mobile on Aug. 1, their parent clubs really just want to see the player tread water amidst the challenges of the new and harder level at first. Drury is doing a little bit more than that. He homered in his first at-bat with the BayBears and hasn't slowed down much since, culminating in last week's breakout string that included four multi-hit performances. In 15 Southern League contests, the 21-year-old third baseman owns a .352/.400/.648 line with four homers and nine RBIs, and those numbers stand at .306/.370/.533/23/90 in 122 games across the two levels.

Texas League
Nomar Mazara, Frisco
(.364/.440/.818, 6 G, 8-for-22, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 5 K)
It felt a little -- or, depending on your viewpoint, very -- aggressive when the Rangers pushed their No. 10 prospect from Class A Hickory to Double-A Frisco, bypassing Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach despite being only 19 years old. Well, he's making the organization look all the smarter given his hot play of late with the RoughRiders. The left-handed outfielder collected his first two Texas League homers and had two hits in three straight games from Thursday to Saturday. After starting his Double-A career by going 5-for-25 in his first six games, Mazara certainly looks like he's up to speed in his new home. His slash line stands at .265/.354/.479 this season to go with 21 homers and 84 RBIs -- numbers that indicate another big leap forward could be coming in 2015.
Mazara hits first Frisco homer

California League
Sherman Johnson, Inland Empire
(.652/.750/1.087, 6 G, 15-for-23, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 13 R, 8 BB, 2 K, 2 SB)
After Sunday night's record-tying offensive explosion by the 66ers, you'd have to figure it'd be an Inland Empire slugger that would get the nod here. Indeed, Johnson, who hit one of five homers during a 10-run first inning Sunday, is the one to take the honor, although he might have had it sewn up before then. Johnson had at least two hits in each of his six games last week and was retired only eight times in 32 plate appearances. In one week's time, his season slash line went from .247/.352/.404 to .266/.375/.438. In addition, with a triple on Thursday, he extended his Cal League-leading total in the category to 12.

Carolina League
Carlos Asuaje, Salem
(.367/.406/.700, 7 G, 11-for-30, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, 6 K)
A 2013 11th-round pick, Asuaje has proved capable with the bat during his first full season in the lower levels of the Red Sox system. His .933 OPS still stands second in the South Atlantic League, despite his not having played there since a mid-July promotion, and, as he showed last week, he's been able to handle the Carolina League as well. His banner day came Wednesday when he hit two solo homers in the first game of a doubleheader and went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs in the second contest. He's got a .316/.368/.541 line with four homers and 18 RBIs in 23 games with the Salem Sox.

Florida State League
Johnny Field, Charlotte
(.400/.520/.800, 6 G, 8-for-20, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB, 1 K, 2 SB, 1 CS)
When the Rays took Field in the fifth round of the 2013 Draft, the right-handed-hitting outfielder was three seasons into a stellar career at the University of Arizona, where he batted .370 and .347 as a sophomore and junior respectively. He hasn't quite put up those numbers as a pro, but he's shown flashes of potential at the plate. Following last week's impressive showing, Field's line is up to .287/.374/.475 in 27 games with Charlotte and .289/.368/.464 with 10 homers, six triples, 31 doubles, 51 RBIs and 20 steals in his first full season.

Midwest League
Tyler O'Neill, Clinton
(.381/.480/.810, 6 G, 8-for-21, 3 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K)
O'Neill was going to be one to watch in the Mariners system this season as he put his powerful profile to the test for the first time since being taken in the third round out of a Canadian prep school in 2013. But a broken hand in May, which came as a result of a punch against a wall, put the brakes on that thought. Since recovering and returning to the Clinton lineup on Aug. 5, he's made up for lost time. Thanks to his big week, he's batting .298 with six homers, three doubles and 16 RBIs in 12 games since his comeback.
O'Neill hits grand slam

South Atlantic League
Correlle Prime, Asheville
(.483/.500/.966, 7 G, 14-for-29, 2 2B, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 8 R, 1 BB, 4 K)
When you've got a Twitter handle like @realprimetime32, you've got be able to back it up, even if it's just a play on your last name. Prime brought the goods last week and indeed might be the Minors' hottest hitter (with apologies to others on this list). Over a four-game stretch to close out the week, the right-handed first baseman went 12-for-17 with four homers, two doubles and 11 RBIs. The 2012 12th-rounder's slash line is up to .284/.331/.528 with 21 homers and 93 RBIs (second-most in the Sally League).

New York-Penn League
Bradley Zimmer, Mahoning Valley
(.524/.615/.762, 6 G, 11-for-21, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 SB, 3 CS)
Time will tell, but the Indians might have gotten the steal of the 2014 Draft when Zimmer, ranked the No. 10 Draft prospect by MLB.com, fell to them at No. 21 in June. The 21-year-old outfielder, who is the brother of No. 2 Royals prospect Kyle Zimmer, hasn't been challenged too much since signing and seems totally comfortable in the New York-Penn League after collecting five multi-hit games last week. He has crafted a .321/.405/.482 line in 36 games with the Scrappers and should be in line for a more difficult test at the higher levels of the Indians' system in 2015.

Northwest League
Sean Dwyer, Tri-City
(.333/.438/.741, 7 G, 9-for-27, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 5 BB, 7 K, 1 SB)
Unlike so many others on this list, Dwyer had struggled in his first full pro season and was sent from Class A Advanced Modesto, where he owned a .204 average and .585 OPS, to Class A Short Season Tri-City in early July. He still struggled in the early going, batting just .194 in his first 17 games with the Dust Devils, but he's turned it on in a big way of late. His three homers last week, two of which came Sunday in his first Minor League multi-homer game, equaled his Cal League total in 69 fewer games. He now has a quite respectable .282/.396/.468 line with four homers and 21 RBIs in 34 games with Tri-City.

Appalachian League
Vicente Lupo, Kingsport
(.444/.630/1.000, 6 G, 8-for-18, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R, 9 BB, 3 K, 2 SB)
How do you not have an official at-bat but score twice and steal a base? A tough task to be sure, but Lupo found a way Friday against Bristol; he walked five times. That is three more free passes than he had received in any other game this season and accounts for 21.7 percent of his walks this season despite coming in 2.9 percent of his games. Of course, Lupo did more than just walk to this award. He also went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs on Wednesday after going deep the day before. After featuring sporadically in the Kingsport outfield, the 20-year-old Venezuela native looks like he's earned a starting role thanks to an .853 OPS that would rank fifth in the Appy League had he enough at-bats to qualify.

Pioneer League
Fran Whitten, Orem
(.423/.444/.808, 6 G, 11-for-26, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 7 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 2 SB)
At one point, Whitten didn't think he had any future in pro ball. According to this story in The Boston Globe, the first baseman had transferred from the University of Maine to Saint Leo University in Florida to go after a career in wildlife management. He still played baseball, however, and caught the attention of the Angels, who snagged him in the 37th round in June. He was sent to the Arizona League, where he batted .343/.425/.519 in 28 games, before the Halos decided to push him to Orem. He's still proving to be fairly dominant in the new level. After last week, he has a .311 average, .964 OPS, six homers and 23 RBIs with the Owlz. Not bad for a guy who thought his best baseball was behind him.
Whitten goes deep with one on

Sam Dykstra is a contributor to MiLB.com.