Willie Cabrera Named American Association Player of the Week: Saints Summary
While the St. Paul Saints are struggling mightily, LF Willie Cabrera managed to put together an amazing week at the plate and was named American Association Player of the Week. His team has lost nine games in a row, but Cabrera has done what he can to give his team the chance to win each night.
In the five games he played in the week that was August 11-17 Cabrera had five home runs including three in one game. His three home run game on August 12 against the Winnipeg Goldeyes, tied a team record. He also added a home run on Friday night against the New Jersey Jackals and hit another one against them on Sunday. For the week he went 9-20 (.450) with nine RBI and five runs scored.
In addition to the five home runs, Cabrera had some big games in general. He had two-games last week where he had three hits in a game, and had three total multi-hit games.
Cabrera has been having a great season for the Saints this year. In 66 games he has hit .328 with 31 RBI. His five home runs this past week doubled his home run output to ten for the season. He has also scored 43 runs and has a .397 on-base percentage.
Early this month Cabrera saw his 19-game hitting streak come to an end. From July 12 to August 7 he hit .422, and reached base in 23 straight games overall.
This is the third season for Cabrera with St. Paul. Last season he hit .317 with 13 home runs and 63 RBI in 85 games. He also had a career high slugging percentage of .517. In 2012 he hit .313 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI.
Cabrera is the first Saints player to be named Player of the Week this season. The last time a Saints player to win the award was Josh Alley who won the award in July 12-18, 2010.
By Robert Pannier
Senior Baseball Editor
Member of the IBWAA