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 Sioux City Explorers right-hander Trenton Toplikar as American Association Pitcher of the Week for Week 9 of the 2023 season.

Explorers RHP Trenton Toplikar him Named Pitcher of the Week

On Monday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named Sioux City Explorers right-hander Trenton Toplikar as the Pitcher of the Week for Week 9 of the 2023 American Association season. Toplikar had a big week, going 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in two starts.

Trenton Toplikar made his first start of the week on Monday, helping his team to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. This was a great pitchers’ duel between the righty and Goldeyes starter Marc-Andre Habeck that saw neither team score through the first seven innings. Winnipeg finally got on the board in the eighth, chasing Toplikar from the contest, but his team scored two in the bottom half of the frame to earn the win.

The right-hander was dominant giving up just one hit through the first three innings and getting out of two jams caused by fielding lapses. He yielded just two hits through the first six inning and allowed four hits overall, going 7.2 innings, walking three, while striking out six. Toplikar threw 105 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Toplikar made his second start of the week on Saturday, going the distance in a 4-1 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders. The right-hander allowed four hits once again, including two doubles. The only run against him came in the third when he gave up a two-out single followed by a double. He then closed out the contest retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. Toplikar allowed four hits and a walk while striking out five. His strike ratio was outstanding in this contest as well as 69 of his 93 pitches were strikes.

For the week, Trenton Toplikar went 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings. He allowed just eight hits and four walks, posting a 0.75 WHIP and an opponent batting average of .157. Of the 198 pitches he threw, 140 went for strikes, an amazing 70.7%.

Toplikar was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 16th round of the 2018 MLB draft. He reached AAA-Sacramento in 2022. In four seasons in the Giants organization. Toplikar went 13-14 with a 4.11 ERA in 86 appearances. He was released near the end of last season, signing with Glacier (Pioneer League) where he had a 1.06 ERA in nine appearances. This is the first season for the right-hander in the American Association. Toplikar is 2-1 with a 3.02 ERA in six starts. He has walked just six batters in 35.2 innings, allowing 31 hits while striking out 22.

Toplikar is the second Sioux City Explorers pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Week. Solomon Bates earned the honor and Week 7.

2023 American Association Pitchers of the Week

Week 1 – Akeem Bostick, RHP, Sioux Falls Canaries
Week 2 – Jake Dahlberg, LHP, Chicago Dogs
Week 3 – Davis Feldman, RHP, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Week 4 – Nick Herold, Lake Country DockHounds
Week 5 – Jalen Miller, Kansas City Monarchs
Week 6 – Nick Green, Chicago Dogs
Week 7 – Solomon Bates, Sioux City Explorers
Week 8 – Travis Seabrooke, Winnipeg Goldeyes

By Robert Pannier