Fitzgerald named Eastern League Player of the Week
RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond Flying Squirrels shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald has been named Eastern League Player of the Week for August 15-21, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday afternoon.
RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond Flying Squirrels shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald has been named Eastern League Player of the Week for August 15-21, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday afternoon.
For the week, Fitzgerald led the Eastern League in batting average (.500), slugging percentage (1.111), OPS (1.682) and total bases (20) and was tied for first in the league in homers (3) and extra-base hits (5). He also ranked tied for third in RBIs (7), tied for second in on-base percentage (.571), tied for second in hits (9) and tied for third in runs scored (6).
Sheesh, @Tyler_Fitz10 💣 pic.twitter.com/UZMQ2MGXjU
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 17, 2022
Fitzgerald played five-of-six games in last week’s Flying Squirrels series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at The Diamond. On Wednesday, he went 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and three RBIs. The next night, he added two more hits.
Touch ‘em all, @Tyler_Fitz10!
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 21, 2022
His second homer of the day and this time he sprints around the bases an inside-the-park home run pic.twitter.com/Ky5OtF6VbT
On Saturday night, Fitzgerald helped lead the Flying Squirrels to a 5-1 win with a two-homer game. He opened the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning, his 20th of the season. After hitting an RBI double in the fourth, Fitzgerald circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Fitzgerald’s 21 homers this year is the second-most in a season in Flying Squirrels history, trailing only Sean Roby this year with 23. His inside-the-park homer on Saturday was the third in team history, joining Brandon Crawford (2010) and Tyler Graham (2014) as the only Richmond players to accomplish the feat.
A native of Springfield, Ill., Fitzgerald was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round in 2019 out of the University of Louisville. For the year, he is batting .227 with 21 homers and 54 RBIs. Over his last 20 games since July 28, Fitzgerald is batting .351 (27-for-77) with six homers, five doubles and 19 RBIs.
His selection marks the third consecutive week a Flying Squirrels player has earned one of the league’s weekly awards. Wil Jensen was named Pitcher of the Week and Brett Auerbach was named Player of the Week for August 1-7. Matt Frisbee was selected as the league’s Pitcher of the Week for August 8-14. Earlier this season, Sean Roby was the Eastern League Player of the Week for April 11-17.
This year, the Flying Squirrels are heading to the Eastern League Playoffs for the first time since 2014. With their first-half division title, the Flying Squirrels are set to host Game 2 of the Southwest Division Series at The Diamond on Thurs., Sept. 22 and, if necessary, Game 3 on Fri., Sept. 23. Tickets are on sale now for all potential Flying Squirrels home playoff games at SquirrelsBaseball.com.