Allday, Dykxhoorn end first half with weekly awards

ROUND ROCK, Texas - El Paso Chihuahuas outfielder Forrestt Allday and Fresno Grizzlies right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn have been selected as the Pacific Coast League's Player and Pitcher of the Week for the period of July 2-8, 2018, the League office announced Monday.

Allday recorded 18 hits in seven games, the second-most in the PCL in a single-week since the start of the 2017 season (19, Iván De Jesús Jr., Colorado Springs, 6/26-7/2/17). That total paced all full-season players in Minor League Baseball, as did his 12 runs scored and 1.690 OPS. Allday hit .600 (18-for-30) with a PCL-best eight extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, two home runs), 31 total bases and four stolen bases. He reached base in 23-of-35 plate appearances, good for a Triple-A Baseball-best .657 on-base percentage. Additionally, Allday drove in eight runs and walked as many times as he struck out (2). Allday's efforts helped El Paso win six of their seven games last week. The Chihuahuas have gone 16-3 since June 18 and enter the All-Star break with a five-game lead in the Pacific Southern Division after sweeping a five-game series from second-place Salt Lake.
The University of Central Arkansas product had hits in all seven games, including six multi-hit contests. After a pair of two-hit games to begin the week, Allday provided the fireworks in the Chihuahuas July 4th win over the Bees with a three-hit, two-RBI and three-run performance. In the final three games of the Salt Lake series, Allday had 10 hits. The 27-year-old reached base in all five plate appearances (three hits, one walk, one hit-by-pitch) on July 6. The following evening, he had the go-ahead - and eventual game-winning - single in the eighth inning of a 5-4 victory. Allday then had a season-high four hits, three of which were doubles, and two RBI on July 8.
Video: El Paso's Allday gets big hit
Allday, in his sixth professional season, is in his first year in the San Diego organization. Upon his promotion to Triple-A on the last day of May, Allday has hit .323 (40-for-124) with two home runs, 17 RBI and a .917 OPS in 35 games. Allday has spent parts of the last three seasons in the PCL, having played for Salt Lake from 2016-17. In that time, he has hit .312 (54-for-173) in 50 games. He was originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the eighth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. This is his first career Player of the Week.
Dykxhoorn made a pair of starts for the first-place Grizzlies, tossing a combined 12.2 innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts and only one walk. On July 2 in Sacramento, Dykxhoorn delivered a quality start; the six-foot-eight righty worked seven innings and gave up only one run. Five days later, he picked up the win against Las Vegas after striking out seven in 5.2 innings. The only run he surrendered came via a home run on the third pitch of the game; Dykxhoorn then set down 15 of the next 16 hitters.
The Canadian native, in his fifth year in the Houston organization, began the year at Double-A and made eight appearances (six starts) for Corpus Christi before earning his first Triple-A promotion on May 24. Dykxhoorn has taken the ball eight times for Fresno (all starts) and worked to a 3.15 ERA (45.2 IP, 16 ER) with a 47:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In his career, Dykxhoorn has posted a 29-18 record with a 4.26 ERA (446.0 IP, 211 ER), 126 walks and 383 strikeouts. This is his third career Pitcher of the Week award, previously being honored by the Rookie Appalachian League in 2014 (Greeneville) and the Single-A California League in 2016 (Lancaster).