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 Cleburne Railroaders infielder Shed Long as American Association Player of the Week for Week 12 of the 2024 season.

Railroaders IF Shed Long Named Player of the Week

On Monday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report Cleburne Railroaders infielder Shed Long as the Player of the Week for Week 12 of the 2024 season. Long had a spectacular week, hitting .579 with nine RBI.

Long began the week by playing in the All-Star game against the West Division. He went 2-5 with two runs scored in the 4-3 loss.

The Railroaders then returned home to take on the Sioux City Explorers and Long was impressive, going 11-19 in the series. He had at least two hits in each of the games. Long opened the series with a 2-5 performance, hitting a double and driving in a run. He also walked in the contest. In the second game, the Railroaders infielder went 2-5 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two. Long was dominant in the third game, going 5-5 with two runs scored, a home run, and two RBI. He closed out the series, going 2-4 with a run scored, a homer and two RBI.

For the week Long hit .579, third overall. He led the league with nine RBI and scored five times. He posted a 1.053 slugging percentage, second best, and his 1.672 OPS was third overall.

Shed Long was selected in the 12th round of the 2013 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He spent six years in the Reds organization, reaching AA-Pensacola in 2017 and 2018. The following season he went to Seattle, starting in AAA-Tacoma before reaching the Majors with the Mariners. He spent all of 2020 and most of 2021 in Seattle. In three seasons in the Major Leagues, Long hit .216 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI in 110 games.

In 2022, Long joined the Baltimore Orioles organization. He moved to High Point (Atlantic League) in 2023, where he hit .307 with 13 homers in 95 games. This season, Long joined the Railroaders where he is hitting .331 in 67 games. Long has eight homers, and he has scored 55 runs and driven in 56.

Long is the fourth Cleburne player to receive Player of the Week honors this season, joining Jaxx Groshans (Week 3), Brian O’Grady (Week 5), and Hill Alexander (Week 8).

2024 American Association Players of the Week

Week 1 – Narciso Crook, Chicago Dogs
Week 2 – Blake Rutherford, Kansas City Monarchs
Week 3 – Jaxx Groshans, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 4 – Max Murphy, Winnipeg Goldeyes
Week 5 – Brian O’Grady, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 6 – Josh Altmann, Lake Country DockHounds
Week 7 – Cornelius Randolph, Kane County Cougars
Week 8 – Hill Alexander, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 9 – Ryan Hernandez, Lake Country DockHounds
Week 10 – Josh Rehwaldt, Sioux Falls Canaries
Week 11 – Alex Baeza, Lincoln Saltdogs

By Robert Pannier