Pirela Named IL Player of the Month
Moosic, Pa. - Jose Pirela continues to rise on baseball's radar. Today, the International League named the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' (Triple-A/New York Yankees) versatile leadoff man as its Player of the Month for June. Along with the winners from other leagues, Pirela will receive an award from Minor League Baseball in recognition of his performance last month.
Pirela led the International League with 40 hits in June, three more than his next-closest competitors. He hit .336/.385/.504/.889 on the month with 10 extra‐base hits, five stolen bases, 18 RBIs and 21 runs scored. He also saw time at second base, left field and, for the first time in his career, added first base and right field to the fray.
The IL's final Player of the Week in May carried his hot hitting into June with a franchise-record-tying five-hit performance on the first of the month. It was the start of a great June that saw Pirela safely reach base in all but two of his 28 games played.
For the season, Pirela ranks among the IL's leaders in batting average (7th, .314), hits (2nd, 96), runs scored (2nd, 53) and total bases (T-3rd, 137). The 24-year-old native of Venezuela first reached Triple‐A in 2013 when he hit .304 in a five-game July stint with the RailRiders. On his career he has only reached double-digit home runs in a season once. That came when he hit 10 for last year's Eastern League champion Trenton Thunder. He already has seven home runs through 75 games played this season, with five of them coming at the expansive, pitcher-friendly confines of PNC Field.
The RailRiders conclude their two-game home series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) tonight at 7:05 p.m. On this T-Shirt Tuesday the first 1,500 fans through the gates will receive the highly-anticipated "Friends Don't Let Friends Be IronPigs Fans" T-shirt. It also marks Carbondale Night at the park as the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, mayor's office and local Little League will be in attendance for "The Pioneer City".
The game airs live on MyNetworkTV at 7 p.m. with John Sadak and Donnie Collins on the call. Jim Riley will have the play-by-play on radio with the pregame show beginning at 6:35 p.m. on NEPA Sports Radio - The GAME, Northeast PA's largest sports radio network: 100.7 FM, 1340 WYCK-AM, 1400 WICK-AM, 1440 WCDL-AM and 106.7 FM. For ticket information or to book a group outing, call (570) 969-BALL (2255) or visit swbrailriders.com.
- SWB RailRiders - All Aboard! -