Jesús Bastidas Named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week

Sugar Land Space Cowboys infielder Jesús Bastidas has been named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for the week of May 13 through 20 as announced by Minor League Baseball on Monday.

During the Space Cowboys six-game series in Albuquerque, Bastidas slashed .542/571/1.292/1.863, going 13-for-24 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs, 11 RBI, nine runs scored, three walks, a stolen base and just three strikeouts. The 25-year-old reached base safely in all six games during the week and hit safely in five of six games, putting together multi-hit efforts in all five of them while walking twice in the single game that he did not record a hit.

For the week, Bastidas led the Pacific Coast League in RBI, extra-base hits (9), total bases (31), slugging percentage and OPS, was tied for the league lead in home runs and runs scored, and finished tied for third in doubles, fourth in batting average and hits and tied for fourth in on-base percentage. Bastidas led Minor League Baseball in total bases, slugging and OPS and tied for the most runs scored, while finishing tied for third in RBI and home runs and tied for fifth in hits during the week.

Batting in the leadoff spot in all six contests, Bastidas reached base to begin all six games against Albuquerque, going 5-for-5 with a double, two home runs, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk in just his first plate appearance each night. On Friday night, Bastidas tied a career high with four hits, including recording the second multi-homer game of his career, coming a triple shy of the cycle after singling in his first at bat, doubling his second time up and homering in his third plate appearance of the evening. The Barquisimeto, Venezuela native collected his triple the following night, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

Bastidas needed a triple, but he'll settle for his second homer of the night 😅 pic.twitter.com/wEQqvdf3kZ

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) May 18, 2024

This season, Bastidas is slashing .307/.383/.620/1.003 in 40 games with 16 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs, 43 RBI, 34 runs scored and five stolen bases in six attempts. He currently leads Minor League Baseball in extra-base hits (28), is tied for the most doubles, is second in RBI behind teammate Pedro León and tied for fourth in total bases (101). Originally signed as an international free agent by the New York Yankees in 2015, Bastidas signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent on November 18, 2023. This is the first Player of the Week honor of Bastidas’ career.

It is the second time this season the Space Cowboys have had a player named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week, joining Joey Loperfido who took home the honor for the week of April 8 through 14, and just the fifth time in franchise history a Space Cowboys player has been named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week.

The Space Cowboys return to Constellation Field on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Round Rock Express at 6:35 pm. Full season memberships, partial season memberships, single-game tickets, ticket plans and group outings are available for the 2024 season at SLSpaceCowboys.com/tickets.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans for 2024 by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.