SL Weekly Awards: May 6-12

MARIETTA, GA - The Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs are proud to name Montgomery Biscuits infielder Dalton Kelly the league's Player of the Week and Tennessee Smokies RHP Tyson Miller the Pitcher of the Week. Both awards recognize these players' performances for games during the week of May 6-12.

Kelly, 24, is named Player of the Week after reaching base safely during all seven of Montgomery's games and helping the Biscuits maintain control of the Southern League's North Division. The Redding, California native led the league this past week in a number of offensive categories including walks (7), batting average (.588), on-base percentage (.741), slugging percentage (.941), and OPS (1.682). He also ranked among the league's best in runs scored (6, T-1^st), hits (10, T-1^st), and total bases (16, 3^rd).
Across 34 games this year, the UC Santa Barbara product is hitting .302 (32-for-106) with 22 runs scored and another 13 driven in. He currently leads the league in walks (27), OBP (.464), and OPS (.907). A 38^th round pick by Seattle Mariners in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft, Kelly was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays organization in November 2016. In 208 total games with Montgomery, Kelly is hitting .259 (185-for-715) with 128 runs scored and 95 RBIs.
Video: Montgomery's Kelly knocks two-run homer
Miller, 23, earns Pitcher of the Week honors following a pair of quality starts for the Tennessee Smokies. On Monday, May 6 Miller spun six shutout innings against the Chattanooga Lookouts in a no-decision. He followed that up five days later by tossing seven strong frames against the Birmingham Barons, picking up the victory while allowing no walks and just one earned run on five total hits. The California Baptist University product paced all qualified pitchers this past week with 13.0 IP while posting the lowest WHIP (0.69) and ERA (0.69) of all pitchers who made more than one appearance.
Through seven total starts with the Smokies this season, the Fairfield, California native is 2-1 with a 0.94 ERA (4 ER / 38.1 IP); allowing only eight walks while registering 33 strikeouts. Entering play on Monday, Miller ranks among the season-long leaders in opponents' batting average (.152, 1^st), WHIP (0.73, T-1^st), ERA (0.94, 2^nd), and IP (38.1, 6^th). The Chicago Cubs selected Miller in the 4^th round of the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft, and he is currently ranked by MLB Pipeline as their no. 19 overall prospect.
Video: Near perfection from Miller and some late heroics