American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report name Lincoln Saltdogs catcher Luke Roskam as American Association Player of the Week for Week 9 of the 2023 season.

Saltdogs C Luke Roskam Named Player of the Week

On Monday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named Lincoln Saltdogs catcher Luke Roskam as the Player of the Week for Week 9 of the 2023 American Association season. Roskam had an outstanding week, leading the league in hitting (.542) while scoring five runs and driving in eight.

The catcher began the week with a three-game set against the Cleburne Railroaders, a series where the Saltdogs won two of the three games. Roskam began the set on fire, going 5-6 with a run scored, a double, a home run, and four RBI in a 17-8 victory. In both the second and third contests of the series, the catcher went 2-4, hitting his second home run of the series in the second game and scoring two runs in the third. Combined Roskam went 9-14 with four runs scored, a double, two home runs, five RBI, and a walk.

Next, the team traveled to take on the Gary SouthShore RailCats where Roskam was a combined 4-10 with a run scored, his third home run of the week, and three RBI. He also walked four times in the series. The Saltdogs catcher began the series with a 1-2 performance, walking three times. He then went 1-4, with his one hit being a three-run homer in a 6-5 victory. Roskam closed out the series by going 2-4.

Luke Roskam had hits in all six games during the week, extending his hitting streak to 12 straight contests. Overall, he was 13-24, with five runs scored, three home runs, eight RBI, and five walks. His eight RBI were third most and he led the league with a .621 on-base percentage. Roskam was second in slugging (.958) and second in OPS (1.579).

Luke Roskam attended the University of Nebraska where he hit .266 with 22 home runs and 144 RBI in 200 games. After graduating college, he joined Grand Junction (Pioneer League), hitting .339 with 12 homers and 63 RBI in 69 games. In 2022, Roskam joined the Seattle Mariners organization, appearing in seven games for their rookie league team before being released. He signed with the Saltdogs, hitting .344 in 18 games. This season, Roskam is off to a hot start, hitting .307 with seven home runs and 36 RBI in 41 games.

Roskam is the second Saltdogs player to be named as the Player of the Week in 2023. Outfielder Nick Anderson was selected in Week 4.

2023 American Association Players of the Week

Week 1 – Zach Nehrir, Outfielder, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 2 – Chris Herrmann, Catcher, Kansas City Monarchs
Week 3 – Matt Lloyd, Sioux City Explorers
Week 4 – Nick Anderson, Lincoln Saltdogs
Week 5 – Bryan Torres, Milwaukee Milkmen
Week 6 – Jonah Davis, Kane County Cougars
Week 7 – Hill Alexander, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 8 – Jordan Barth, Sioux Falls Canaries

By Robert Pannier