SEULY MATIAS NAMED DOUBLE-A CENTRAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and Naturals’ right fielder Seuly Matias was named the Double-A Central Player of the Week for his performance the week of September 13th through September 19th. This
SPRINGDALE, Ark – Minor League Baseball announced the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for each of the respective Player Development Leagues and Naturals’ right fielder Seuly Matias was named the Double-A Central Player of the Week for his performance the week of September 13th through September 19th. This is the 6th time a Naturals hitter has been named the league’s player of the week, the 10th time overall this season a Northwest Arkansas player has won a weekly award.
The La Isabela, Dominican Republic, native hit .348 (8-for-23) in his award-winning week, with a league best 22 total bases and 1.357 OPS, while homering four times and driving in five runs. In a five at-bat stretch between Friday and Saturday, Matias recorded five consecutive extra-base hits, including a two-homer game on Saturday, September 18th against the Springfield Cardinals.
Signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in July 2015, Matias joined the Naturals in mid-August this season after beginning the season in High-A Quad Cities. Over 23 games with Northwest Arkansas, the 23-year-old has recorded 11 extra-base hits (seven home runs) and driven in 13 runs.
This is the 38th time in franchise history that a Naturals’ player has won the Player of the Week award, the last being first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino for his performance the week of August 23rd to 29th. Over the 20-week regular season, six Naturals took home player of the week honors, including three from catcher MJ Melendez. Four Naturals were honored as a Pitcher of the Week and on top of three monthly awards, the team took home a Double-A Central-best 13 league awards this season.
Brandon Lawson of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, Houston Astros) was the Double-A Central’s Pitcher of the Week. He pitched 8.0 shutout innings against San Antonio, only allowing four hits and walking one while striking out two.