PASQUANTINO AND PARRISH HONORED AS NATURALS SWEEP DOUBLE-A CENTRAL WEEKLY AWARDS

The Naturals’ first baseman and left-handed starting pitcher have been honored for their performances the week of August 23rd through August 29th

Vinnie Pasquantino was honored as the Double-A Central Player of the Week for August 23rd through August 29th after hitting .524 with three doubles and two home runs. (Alan Jamison)

August 30, 2021

SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and the Naturals took home both awards for the week of August 23rd to 29th, with first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino* named the Double-A Central Player of the

SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and the Naturals took home both awards for the week of August 23rd to 29th, with first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino named the Double-A Central Player of the Week and left-handed pitcher Drew Parrish named the Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week. Naturals players have now been honored with a Double-A Central weekly award nine times this season, with five position players and four pitchers, the second-most in a single season in franchise history.

Pasquantino, the Mosely, Virginia native, had one of the best weeks at the plate of any hitter in Minor League Baseball, as he hit .524 (11-for-21) with three doubles and two home runs for a league-best 20 total bases, four more than the next-closest player. His 11 hits were tied for the most in the league over the last week with an astonishing 1.518 OPS and five runs batted in. He recorded a hit in every game of the Naturals’ six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals, with at least two hits in four of the six games and an RBI in four of six as well.

Drew Parrish tossed a seven-inning, complete game shutout against Springfield in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Friday, August 27th and was awarded the Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week.Alan Jamison

Parrish, a native of Rockledge, Florida, turned in one of the best starting pitching performances for a Naturals arm this season, as he pitched 7.0 shutout innings while allowing just two hits and no walks in the first game of the doubleheader on Friday, August 27th against Springfield. He struck out seven along the way to his second seven-inning performance of the season and the team’s third seven-inning, complete game of the year. He was one of just two Double-A Central pitchers to throw 7.0 innings this past week without allowing a run and led the league with both his 0.29 WHIP and .091 opponents’ batting average.

Kansas City’s 11th round pick in the 2019 Draft out of Old Dominion University, Pasquantino joined the Naturals from Advanced-A Quad Cities on July 20 and through 37 games, is slashing .360/.433/.625 (49-for-136) and between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas in 2021 while leading all of Minor League Baseball with 35 doubles and 58 extra-base hits.

Selected by the Royals in the 8th round of the 2019 Draft out of Florida State University, Parrish joined the Naturals from Advanced-A Quad Cities on June 10 and through 14 games (13 starts) he is 5-3 at the Double-A level with a 3.46 ERA (25 ER in 65.0 IP) and 76 strikeouts. He has a .196 opponents’ batting average and a 1.03 WHIP with Northwest Arkansas, which are 2nd and 3rd respectively among Double-A Central pitchers with at least 60.0 innings pitched this season.

This is the 37th time in franchise history that a Naturals’ player has won the Player of the Week award, the last being catcher Freddy Fermin for his performance the week of July 26th to August 1st. It is also the 31st time in franchise history that a Naturals’ player has won the Pitcher of the Week award, as Austin Cox was the last to receive the honor, for his performance the week of August 2nd through August 8th.

Between hitters and pitchers, nine weekly award winners in 2021 is the second-most in a season in Naturals’ history, just behind the 2010 Texas League Championship Team that was honored 10 times (five pitchers and five hitters).