Marte, Weaver begin May with weekly accolades

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Pacific Coast League has named Reno Aces' infielder Ketel Marte and Memphis Redbirds' right-hander Luke Weaver the Player and Pitcher of the Week for May 1-7, the office announced Monday. 

Marte was the catalyst for an Aces offense that plated 64 runs last week, an average of over nine per contest. He got on base at a .581 clip with a .500 (13-for-26) batting average, totals that led and tied for the lead among Triple-A players, respectively. His 1.350 OPS bested the PCL, while his 10 RBI tied for second. Marte also collected five extra-base hits, 20 bases in total, scored eight runs, stole three bases and walked four times compared to one strikeout.
The 23-year-old switch hitter recorded multiple hits in five of his six games; he also scored and drove in at least one run in all but one of the games. Marte reached base a weekly-best four times with three hits and a walk in a May 2 victory over Salt Lake. He fell a home run shy of the cycle on May 3, collecting three hits with five RBI in a win. The following day he had two hits, one walk and scored three of the Aces PCL season-high 22 runs.
Marte, in his first season in the Diamondbacks organization, paces all full-season Minor League Baseball players with a .419 average and 52 hits. He also ranks among PCL leaders in on-base percentage (.463, 2nd), runs scored (28, 2nd) and total bases (68, 4th). Marte was acquired from Seattle in a five-player deal in November 2016. The Dominican Republic native has appeared in 176 major league contests with the Mariners over the past two seasons, batting .267 (175-for-656) with three home runs and 50 RBI. This is his second career Player of the Week award, having already been honored for the period of July 29-August 4, 2013 with Single-A Clinton.

In his first two starts since returning from the disabled list, Weaver didn't allow a run or walk over 13.0 innings, striking out nine. He got the win May 2 at Omaha after going six shutout innings, giving up just three singles. Five days later at Iowa, he went seven innings, scattering four hits and striking out four in the Redbirds' 10-1 win; the victory for Memphis marked their 10th consecutive, which set a new franchise record. Weaver took the ball for the Redbirds on Opening Day, but lasted only two innings before being shut down with a back injury.
Weaver entered the season tabbed as the Cardinals' No. 2 prospect by Baseball America. The Florida State product was selected by St. Louis with the 27th overall pick of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. He was a 2016 postseason All-Star with the Double-A Texas League's Springfield Cardinals. Weaver made his MLB debut that season, going 1-4 with a 7.18 ERA (36.1 IP, 23 ER) and 45 strikeouts in nine games (eight starts). This is Weaver's second career Pitcher of the Week, having previously won in June 2016 with Springfield.