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 Minor League Sports Report name Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks infielder Leobaldo Pina the American Association Player of the Week for Week 6.

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Infielder Leobaldo Pina Named Player of the Week

On Monday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks infielder Leobaldo Pina as the American Association Player of the Week for Week 6 of the 2022 season. Piña was impressive, hitting .560 in seven games with 10 runs scored and seven RBI.

It was an impressive week for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks infielder, as the club went 6-1, starting with a four-game sweep of the Lake Country DockHounds. Piña had a huge series, going 8-15 with six runs scored and three RBI. The infielder got the week off right last Monday, going 3-4 with three runs scored, a double, a homer, and an RBI and a 7-1 victory over the DockHounds. In the second game, he was 2-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Piña closed out the final two contests going 3-8 overall with a run scored and three walks.

The RedHawks then welcomed the Kane County Cougars to town, and Piña was fantastic, going 6-10 with four runs scored, two doubles, a homerun, and four RBI. He opened the series going 1-2 while driving in a run in the only loss for the RedHawks during the week. In the second game, Pina went 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. He then closed out the series with a 3-4 performance, hitting a double, a homerun, scoring two runs, and driving in two more.

Leobaldo Pina finished the week hitting .560 (14-25), recording at least one hit in all seven games. He scored 10 runs and drove in seven, plus walked five times. The RedHawks infielder had six doubles and two home runs, finishing the week with a 1.040 slugging percentage, tops in the American Association. His 1.673 OPS and .633 on-base percentage also led the league.

This is the 12th professional season for Leobaldo Pina. He began his career in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, reaching AA-Springfield in 2017. A year later, he joined the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks where he has played the last five seasons. In his time with Fargo-Moorhead, Pina has been impressive, posting a .319 batting average with 45 home runs and 238 RBI in 383 games.

Pina is the third straight Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks player to earn Player of the Week honors. Drew Ward earned the honors in Week 4 and Manuel Boscan won the award last week.

2022 American Association Players of the Week

Week 1 – Keon Barnum, Milwaukee Milkmen
Week 2 – Jan Hernandez, Kansas City Monarchs
Week 3 – Dylan Kelly, Milwaukee Milkmen
Week 4 – Drew Ward, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Week 5 – Manuel Boscan, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

By Robert Pannier