Olloque's grand night keys Chukars' rout
Manny Olloque picked up right where he left off.After spending a handful of games at the highest level of the Minors this season, the Kansas City infield prospect belted a grand slam and another homer on a career-high seven-RBI night in Class A Short Season Idaho Falls' 17-0 win over
Manny Olloque picked up right where he left off.
After spending a handful of games at the highest level of the Minors this season, the Kansas City infield prospect belted a grand slam and another homer on a career-high seven-RBI night in Class A Short Season Idaho Falls' 17-0 win over Ogden at Melaleuca Field. He scored three times.
Gameday box score
"He's just trying to get his pitch early, get a pitch in his zone and not try to do too much," said Idaho Falls hitting coach Damon Hollins. "It's really just he needs to stay within himself. He got a couple of line drives tonight. I know he had the home runs, but most of his hits have been line drives all over the field. He just happened to get a couple pitches he could handle thigh-high and he was able to put good swings on them."
Olloque's night began with a sacrifice fly to field that scored Rudy Martin in the first inning. After leading off the third with a walk and coming around to score on a double by Nick Hutchins, Olloque highlighted the Chukars' 12-run frame with a grand slam to center.
"He's a big kid with a lot of leverage at the plate," said Hollins. "He used it to his advantage tonight."
The 22-year-old went yard again in his next at-bat in the fourth, sailing a fly ball over the center-field fence that also scored Kyle Isbel.
"He wants to get a pitch that he can handle. Any time you hit home runs to center field, I think your swing pretty much stays in the zone for a long time," said Hollins. "He definitely got a pitch from what we talk about being above the knees and around the thigh area and he didn't miss it. To his credit, he drove those balls and they went out of the park."
Olloque played for Triple-A Omaha from May 14-28, ending with a .207 average but on a five-game hitting streak. He picked up at least two hits in each of the first three Pioneer League games.
"Any time you can go spend some time in Triple-A, those guys will rub off on you and you learn a lot in a short amount of time," said Hollins. "I think he took advantage of the opportunity and is trying to lead this team by the way he goes about his business. We're happy to have him, and hopefully he can continue to stay healthy and put together a lot of strong at-bats."
Tyler James drove in three runs and Martin added two RBIs while Hutchins hit two doubles and scored two twice in the Chukars' offensive outburst. Olloque was the only player to homer in the contest.
"Our offense responded after the first game and we had a big third inning," said Hollins. "I don't know how many batters we sent to the plate, but we put up a 12-spot and kind of cruised from there. You go up and look for your pitch to drive early and if not you take your walk. The message is to go up on offense and compete overall, and that's what the guys were doing."
Connor Mayes (1-0) allowed three hits and struck out nine without a walk over six innings in his season debut.
Marisa Ingemi is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Ingemi.
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