Casteel, Pfeifer named Farm Bureau Player and Pitcher of the Week

PEARL, MS - Mississippi Braves first baseman Ryan Casteel  and left-handed pitcher Phil Pfeifer have been named Farm Bureau Player and Pitcher of the Week. The awards were given for their performances for the M-Braves from Aug. 19-25.

Casteel, 28, hit .250 (6-for-24) over eight games this past week with two doubles, a home run, four RBI, four walks and .357 OBP. Casteel reached several milestones last week, notching his 100th hit for the fourth time in his career on Friday, hit his 20th home run on Saturday and recorded his 20th double on Sunday. Casteel is the only Southern League player this season with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. 

The Chattanooga, Tennessee native leads the club and ranks third in the league with 20 home runs and has three multi-homer games this season. His three-homer game on July 3 was the first in M-Braves history. Casteel has already moved into seventh place on the M-Braves all-time home run list. His home run on Aug. 24 at Biloxi made him just the second M-Brave to record 20 homers in a season, joining Ernesto Mejia (26) who did it in 2011. 

Casteel ranks among the league leaders in homers (20, 3rd), RBI (68, 3rd), slugging (.481, 4th), OPS (.821, 7th), extra-base hits (42, T-6th) and total bases (187, 5th).

The Braves signed Casteel to a minor league contract on Jan. 24. The Colorado Rockies originally drafted him in the 17th round of the 2010 draft out of Cleveland State (TN) CC. 

Pfeifer, 27, was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett before his scheduled start on Sunday, but in his lone start last week, Pfeifer matched a career-high with 8.0 shutout innings on seven hits with nine strikeouts and two walks during a no-decision against Pensacola last Tuesday. 

Pfeifer is averaging 10.4 SO/9.0 IP this season between Mississippi, Florida, and Gwinnett and has 150 strikeouts in 28 games, 18 starts, and 127.2 innings. In four starts for Mississippi, the Vanderbilt product posted a 1.17 ERA (3 ER/23.0 IP), 29 strikeouts, six walks, .195 BAA and 0.96 WHIP from Aug. 4-20. The lefty has logged double-digit strikeouts three times this season, including a career-high 17 strikeouts on July 18 at Palm Beach.

The Knoxville, Tennessee native was originally a third-round selection for the Dodgers in 2015 and was acquired by the Braves, along with RHP Caleb Dirks from the Dodgers in exchange for RHP Bud Norris, LF Dian Toscano, Player To Be Named Later and cash.

The M-Braves will close out the 2019 home schedule with a five-game homestand Aug. 29-Sept. 2 at Trustmark Park against the Chattanooga Lookouts. The homestand features the final Thirsty Thursday of the season, Baseball Card Set Giveaway on Friday, Aug. 30, Post-Game Fireworks and Memphis Grizzlies Night on Saturday, Aug. 31, Mugshots FamilyFest Sunday and Photo With a Brave Day on Sunday, Sept. 1 and then a Labor Day matinee on Monday, Sept. 2 at 1:05 pm to close out the season. For tickets and more information visit mississippibraves.com.