Payton, Armenteros Named PCL Player's of the Week

The Pacific Coast League office announced Monday that Las Vegas Aviators outfielder Mark Payton and right-hander Rogelio Armenteros of the Round Rock Express were named Player and Pitcher of the Week for the period of July 8-14, 2019.

Coming off the Triple-A All-Star break, Payton hit five home runs and had nine RBI. Though he played in three games, Payton served as a pinch runner in his first game of the week on July 12 against the Salt Lake Bees and started the last two contests of the week on July 13 and 14. The University of Texas product led the PCL in total bases (20), home runs (5), RBI (9) and tied for third in runs (6).
Payton, who was selected in the seventh round by the New York Yankees in the 2014 draft out of UT, is batting .324 (72-for-222) with 15 home runs and 57 RBI. He has notched 22 multi-hit games, two multi-home run games and 13 multi-RBI games this year for the Aviators. This is the third Player of the Week honor for Payton in his career, and second this season with the Aviators (April 24, 2016 with High-A Tampa Yankees; April 14, 2019 with Las Vegas).
In his lone start of the week, Round Rock's Rogelio Armenteros picked up the win tossing six scoreless innings for the Express. Armenteros surrendered just five hits, walked a batter, stranded five runners in scoring position and struck out seven against the Iowa Cubs on July 12. Armenteros tied for fourth in strikeouts (7) and was one of four starters to not yield a run with a start of at least five innings or more.
On the season, the 25-year-old is 4-6 in 14 games (13 starts) with 63 strikeouts. Armenteros, a native of La Habana, Cuba, made his Major League debut on June 14 against the Toronto Blue Jays in Houston. In that game, Armenteros picked up the rare three inning save in a 15-2 victory over the Blue Jays as he tossed three scoreless frames with three strikeouts for the Astros. This is the second Pitcher of the Week honor for Armenteros in his career (July 10, 2016 with High-A Lancaster JetHawks).