Pitcher of the Week

Congratulations to Edward Paredes. He is the first Rattler pitcher to earn Midwest League Pitcher of the Week since Marwin Vega won the final MWL Pitcher of the Week award in 2006.

Edward Paredes, Wisconsin
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Paredes had a few rough outings in April -- including a start in which he gave up eight earned runs -- but his last few starts have shown significant improvement. Paredes took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, and ended up tossing eight shutout innings in the 1-0 win. Paredes is now 4-3 with a rapidly shrinking 4.08 ERA.

Oh, and Roger Tomas of West Michgian was the MWL Offensive Player of the Week.

Roger Tomas, West Michigan
.550 (11-20), 6 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2 SB, .600 SLG

As difficult as it is to raise a .375 batting average, Tomas was up to the task last week. Tomas has hit consistently all season, but batting over .500 with a few clutch hits over a week's span will always draw attention. He delivered the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning of West Michigan's 5-2 victory over South Bend on Thursday. Then he was at it again Friday, stroking a walk-off single to give the Whitecaps a 3-2 win over Dayton. Signed by Detroit as a non-drafted free agent just under a year ago, Tomas has been a valuable acquisition. In just 88 at-bats this season, he has come around to score 15 times, bumping that total significantly last week with six runs.