Spanberger leads Players of the Week pack

If it weren't for Royals No. 3 prospectSeuly Matias and his Minor League-leading 26 home runs, Chad Spanberger would sit atop that leaderboard in the South Atlantic League.

Instead, the Rockies' 24th-ranked prospect will have to settle for second with his 21 long balls -- though he's doing his best to gain some ground. Last week, the Class A Asheville first baseman batted .542 with a 1.083 OPS, three homers, nine RBIs, eight runs scored and two stolen bases to take home SAL Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.

"It's awesome," said Spanberger, who earned the honor on June 4 as well. "You just gotta come out and play every day. I don't try to play for awards, but you do what you gotta do to help the team out and win."

• View the Pitcher of the Week winners »

Spanberger celebrated America's birthday in style, homering in three straight games between July 2-4. In those contests, he racked up 20 total bases and went 7-for-12 with six RBIs. Since July began, the 22-year-old has posted a .481/.500/.963 slash line. He said he was in a zone where everything was working in his favor.

"Everything you hit finds a whole, or you get good pitches to hit," said the Granite City, Illinois native. "You see [the ball] well."

Spanberger's 69 RBIs this season lead the Sally League by 15 and top all Class A hitters. Overall, the University of Arkansas product is hitting .317/.358/.604 in 2018, his full-season debut. With Rookie-level Grand Junction last year, Spanberger clubbed 19 homers and drove in 51 runs while hitting .294 with a .985 OPS in 60 Pioneer League games.

"I wouldn't say I really changed anything," the left-handed hitter said. "It's just really sticking to that approach and that swing and just perfecting it throughout the season. Just sticking to your routine and not changing anything mentally or physically. Just staying true to who I am and take it at-bat for at-bat. Don't think about the last at-bat. Think about the next at-bat coming up."

The 2017 sixth-round Draft pick showed off his affinity for power last month in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the All-Star first baseman won the league's Home Run Derby.

"I got a nice rhythm going," Spanberger said following that victory.

Here are the rest of this week's Player of the Week honorees for July 2-8.

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Eric Haase	Columbus	CLE	.346/.379/.731, 7 G, 9-for-26, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 SB
Pacific Coast	Forrestt Allday	El Paso	SD	.600/.657/1.033, 7 G, 18-for-30, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 12 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 4 SB
Eastern	Jerry Sands	Richmond	SF	.429/.478/.952, 6 G, 9-for-21, 5 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Southern	Trent Giambrone	Southern	CHC	.346/.433/.808, 7 G, 9-for-26, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 4 SB, 2 CS
Texas	Preston Beck	Frisco	TEX	.464/.545/.750, 7 G, 13-for-28, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 CS
California	Omar Estevez	Rancho Cucamonga	CAL	.333/.394/.852, 7 G, 9-for-27, 2 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 10 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Carolina	Bobby Dalbec	Salem	BOS	.481/.484/1.185, 7 G, 13-for-27, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 8 R, 2 BB, 6 K
Florida State	Ivan Castillo	Dunedin	TOR	.476/.500/.762, 7 G, 10-for-21, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 SB
Midwest	Elehuris Montero	Peoria	STL	.400/.464/.720, 6 G, 10-for-25, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
South Atlantic	Chad Spanberger	Asheville	COL	.542/.538/1.083, 6 G, 13-for-24, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 SB
New York-Penn League	Gilberto Celestino	Tri-City	HOU	.393/.433/.786, 7 G, 11-for-28, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 5 SB
Northwest	Luis Castro	Boise	COL	.522/.593/.913, 6 G, 12-for-23, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 5 SB
Appalachian	Jordan Qsar	Princeton	TB	.407/.515/.889, 7 G, 11-for-27, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, 6 BB, 3 IBB, 8 K, 2 SB
Pioneer	Reed Rohlman	Idaho Falls	KC	.480/.552/.880, 6 G, 12-for-25, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 SB