Maxwell, Skaggs earn Players of the Week
ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Pacific Coast League Monday afternoon named Nashville Sounds' catcher Bruce Maxwell and Salt Lake Bees' left-hander Tyler Skaggs the Player and Pitcher of the Week for July 11-17.
Maxwell, in four games, led all of Triple-A in batting average (.647, 11-for-17), total bases (24), home runs (4), RBI (10), on-base percentage (.684), slugging percentage (1.412), OPS (2.096), while tying for the high in extra-base hits (5). Maxwell's week was highlighted by a five-hit, six-RBI, four-run game July 16 at El Paso. He became just the fourth PCL player in the last five seasons to record a game of at least five hits, six RBI and four runs (Preston Tucker, FRE, 6/30/16; Kyle Jensen, NEW, 5/5/14; Stephen Vogt, SAC, 4/14/13 and 7/19/13). That contest also featured his first career multi-homer game. Born in Germany, Maxwell hit safely in his three other games, including a July 14 game in which he had four hits and three RBI. Maxwell paced a Sounds offense that collected 65 hits and scored 45 runs in four games against the Chihuahuas.
The 25-year-old hit only .220 (9-for-41) in April, but has rebounded to hit .275 (11-for-40) in May, .313 (21-for-67) in June and .462 (18-for-39) in July. In total, Maxwell has batted .316 (59-for-187) with a career-high nine home runs and 39 RBI in 58 games. The Athletics selected Maxwell in the second round of the 2012 First-Year Player draft out of Birmingham-Southern College. Maxwell has been named a Mid-Season All-Star in 2013 with Single-A Beloit and in 2014 with Single-A Stockton. This is his first career Player of the Week.
In his lone start, July 14 at Omaha, Skaggs tied a Bees franchise record with 14 strikeouts (Jered Weaver, 6/23/06). He went 7.0 innings and allowed only one baserunner, a first inning single, retiring the final 19 hitters he faced in his 84-pitch gem. Skaggs is the first PCL pitcher to strike out 14 in a start since July 25, 2009, when Memphis' P.J. Walters also fanned 14 in 6.0 innings.
The 25-year-old, seventh-year professional missed all of the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery in August 2014. He started this year with the Bees and made three starts, but biceps tendinitis kept him out for the next two months. This past start marked Skaggs' third with Salt Lake since that injury.
Skaggs was the 40th overall pick of the Angels in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Santa Monica High School (CA). The southpaw was sent to Arizona in August 2010 as part of a trade involving Dan Haren. He made his major league debut with the D'Backs in 2012, and over the course of two seasons, Skaggs had a 5.43 ERA in 68.0 innings. He then was traded back to the Angels in December 2013 in a three-team trade with the White Sox. The California native spent the whole 2014 season in the Los Angeles rotation before tearing his ulnar collateral ligament in a July 31 start.
In his minor league career, Skaggs has been on three Mid-Season All-Star teams (2010-12), twice been selected to the Futures Game (2011-12) and twice been named an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star (2011-12). This is his second career Player of the Week, previously winning in August 2011 with Double-A Mobile.