Knizner, Abreu capture weekly AFL awards

Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, José Altuve and Justin Verlander weren't the only ones dominating on a baseball diamond last week.
Cardinals catcher/first baseman Andrew Knizner was named the Arizona Fall League Player of the Week for Week 2 while Yankees right-hander Albert Abreu claimed the Pitcher of the Week award, the league announced Tuesday.

Knizner, the Cardinals' No. 27 prospect went 8-for-17 with two homers, a double, five RBIs and three runs scored over four games for Surprise. He tied for the league lead in hits, total bases (15) and home runs from Oct. 16-20. Both of his long balls came last Friday in a 7-6 loss at Mesa. That was the 22-year-old right-handed slugger's first two-homer game since Aug. 27, 2016, when he went deep twice for Rookie-level Johnson City.
Through seven games in the Fall League, Knizner owns a .393/.433/.643 line with the two homers, a double and seven RBIs.

The Virginia native was a seventh-round pick by St. Louis in the 2016 Draft out of North Carolina State and is already climbing quickly through the organizational ranks, reaching Double-A Springfield at the end of this season. He hit .302/.349/.471 with 12 homers in 95 games between Springfield and Class A Peoria. He also proved to be an asset behind the plate by throwing out 45.1 percent of attempted basestealers. Since Knizner has veteran backstop Yadier Molina and No. 2 prospect Carson Kelly above him on the Cardinals depth chart, however he's gotten more starts at first base (four) than at catcher (three) in the AFL.
Abreu, the No. 7 prospect in the Yankees' system, made one start for Scottsdale last week and made it count. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out eight and allowed just two hits and two walks over five scoreless innings in a 10-1 win at Glendale on Tuesday. His eight K's were the most by an AFL pitcher last week, and his five scoreless frames were only matched by Max Fried, Zach Jemiola and T.J. Zeuch.
The Dominican Republic native has made two Fall League starts, giving up just one run on six hits and three walks over 10 innings. His 11 strikeouts trail only Fried (18) and fellow Yankees prospect Justus Sheffield (15) for the league lead, though both of those southpaws have made three starts.
Acquired from the Astros last offseason in the Brian McCann trade, Abreu didn't get a chance to make much of an impact in his first season in pinstripes. He missed two months with a muscle injury in his right shoulder and was limited to only 53 1/3 innings across three levels. He was sent to the Fall League to help make up for the lost time.