Minor league notes on Yastrzemski, Mancini, Janish and more

Double-A Bowie outfielder Mike Yastrzemski today was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday. Yastrzemski hit .438 (14-for-32) with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and seven runs scored during the week.

This all followed a slow start for the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who was hitting .143 after eight games. But since then, the younger Yaz has hit safely in all seven games with six multi-hit games. His current hitting streak is eight straight overall.

Over 15 games on the year, Yastrzemski is batting .300 with three doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs, a .382 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage.

Earlier I wrote about first baseman Trey Mancini's promotion today from Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk. Mancini batted .302 with four doubles, seven homers and 14 RBIs in 17 games with Bowie.

His seven home runs are tied for the most in all of minor league baseball. Mike Zunino of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers has hit seven homers and knocked in 21 runs over 15 games. Last year, Mancini hit his seventh homer in his 50th game and that was then at Single-A Frederick.

Norfolk is 6-11 after Sunday's 9-0 loss to Louisville. The Tides lost eight of their first 10 and are 4-3 since that point. Like the Tides, the Baysox got off to a poor start at 1-7. But since then, the defending Eastern League champs are 7-2 for an overall 8-9 record.

High single-A Frederick won Sunday to improve to 6-12. The Keys snapped a five-game losing streak but overall have lost nine of their last 11 games. Single-A Delmarva has the best record of the O's four affiliates right now at 10-8. The Shorebirds have won three in a row scoring 27 runs and have won six of their past eight games.

Norfolk shortstop Paul Janish is red hot right now. He has a seven-game hitting streak, tied for the longest by a Tides player this season. Over that stretch, Janish has hit .542 (13-for-24) with five multi-hit games. He has also hit safely in 11 of his 13 games this season, batting .386/.400/.409.

Tides outfielder Xavier Avery extended his hitting streak to five games Sunday. He is 6-for-12 during this streak and is 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.

Some of the younger kids at Bowie have gotten off to solid starts, which should bode well for the Baysox. Third baseman Drew Dosch is batting .283 in 14 games. Shortstop Adrian Marin is hitting .275 in 14 games. Bowie's Corban Joseph, younger brother of Orioles catcher Celeb Joseph, is third in the league in batting at .340.

Catcher Chance Sisco is batting .302. But he has already taken 11 walks to lead the team and his .444 OBP ranks third in the Eastern League.

Frederick lefty John Means is now 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA and tied for the Carolina League lead in wins. He has allowed two runs or less in each of his first four starts. Right-hander Michael Zouzalik posted his second save Sunday. He has an 0.77 ERA, holding opponents to a .175 batting average. Infielder Steve Wilkerson recorded three hits yesterday and has hit safely in five of his last six games at .333 (7-for-21).

Delmarva left-hander Brian Gonzalez won his second consecutive decision Sunday, improving to 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA over four starts. He has allowed three runs over 10 innings his last two starts. Right-hander Patrick Baker tossed three scoreless innings of relief and struck out a career-high six batters. He has recorded 17 strikeouts in five games over 12 1/3 innings.

Shorebirds catcher Yermin Mercedes is tied for the South Atlantic League batting lead, hitting .435 in 12 games. He produced a season-high five RBIs Sunday. His stats during a four-game hitting streak are pretty amazing and three of those games were three-hit games. During this four-game stretch, Mercedes is 11-for-18 (.611) with four doubles, two triples, a home run, six runs scored and nine RBIs.

Update: No surprise really, but Mercedes has been named player of the week in the South Atlantic League giving O's players two honors this week. This is the first time a Shorebird has taken home a weekly honor from the SAL since John Means was named SAL pitcher of the week for July 27-Aug. 3, 2015.

Janish must have been a strong contender in the International League but Josh Bell of Indianapolis got that honor.

Mercedes is a 23-year-old right-handed hitter who was originally signed out of the Dominican by the Nationals. He is in his second season with the Orioles and hit .272 in 64 games with Delmarva last summer.