Gutierrez, Keller take AFL weekly awards

As in the regular season, Kelvin Gutierrez's playing time in the Arizona Fall League has been limited, but his impact remains impressive. 
The Nationals' No. 12 prospect was named the AFL Player of the Week for his performance from Oct. 30-Nov. 4, the league announced Tuesday. Pirates No. 2 prospect Mitch Keller took home Pitcher of the Week honors for the same period.

Gutierrez, a Nationals prospect, went 6-for-10 with a homer, a triple, four RBIs, five runs scored and three walks in four games for Mesa. The 23-year-old third baseman led the Fall League in average (.600), on-base percentage (.692), slugging (1.100) and OPS (1.792) for the week. His six hits were tied with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for the league lead while his 11 total bases tied for second. His only two multi-hit games of the AFL thus far came in back-to-back games as he went 3-for-5 on Wednesday and 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs on Thursday, both times against Surprise. 
The Dominican Republic native was sent to the Arizona Fall League after an ankle injury in June limited him to only 68 games between the Nationals' Gulf Coast League affiliate and Class A Advanced Potomac. He hit .288/.347/.414 with two homers, six triples and 10 doubles over 58 games at the higher level before the injury, numbers that earned him a spot as a Carolina League midseason All-Star. 
Gutierrez played two games with the Solar Sox last month on Oct. 10 and 12 before being spiked on the hand, an injury that sidelined him until last Monday. He is 7-for-16 (.438) with a homer, a triple and five RBIs over seven Fall League games overall.
Keller, the highest-ranked pitching prospect in the AFL at No. 18 overall, continued an impressive fall with a gem for Glendale last Monday. The 21-year-old right-hander allowed just one hit and no walks while fanning two over five scoreless innings in the Desert Dogs' 3-2 win over Scottsdale. 
The Pirates right-hander has made four Fall League starts and owns a 1.72 ERA with 10 strikeouts and four walks in 15 2/3 innings. He posted a 3.03 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 32 walks over 116 frames between Class A Short Season West Virginia, Class A Advanced Bradenton and Double-A Altoona during the regular season.