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 Kane County Cougars infielder Sherman Johnson as the American Association Player of the Week for Week 15.

Kane County Cougars Infielder Sherman Johnson Named Player of the Week

On Monday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named Kane County Cougars infielder Sherman Johnson as the American Association Player of the Week for Week 15 of the 2022 season. Johnson hit .529 with a .692 on-base percentage during the week.

Sherman Johnson appeared in five games for Kane County last week, starting with a three-game series against the Lincoln Saltdogs, a series where the Cougars won two of the three games. Johnson started with an impressive performance, going 3-3 with two runs scored and two walks. He followed that up with a 1-3 performance, scoring a run, adding an RBI, and walking twice more. Johnson hit his first double of the week as well and reached base in the six straight at-bats before finally not reaching base. He closed the series with a 3-5 performance, hitting his second double of the week while scoring twice and adding a walk. In the series, the infielder was 7-11 with five runs scored, two doubles, an RBI, and five walks.

Next, the Cougars traveled to take on the Milwaukee Milkmen. Johnson only appeared in the first two games of the series, but was a combined 2-6, with a run, two doubles, and four walks. On Friday, Johnson went 2-5 with a run scored, and two doubles. On Saturday, he was hitless in his one at-bat, but walked four times in the contest.

For the week, Sherman Johnson was 9-17 with six runs scored, four doubles, one RBI, and nine walks. His .529 batting average led the American Association, as did his .692 OBP and his 1.457 OPS was second overall.

For the season, Johnson is hitting .232 with 54 runs scored, 11 homers and 48 RBI. He leads the American Association in walks with 70.

Sherman Johnson began his professional career after being selected in the 14th round of the 2012 MLB amateur draft by the Los Angeles Angels. Johnson spent seven seasons with the Angels, reaching the Majors in 2018 where he appeared in 10 games. In 2019, he moved onto the Cincinnati Reds organization, spending the season with AAA-Louisville. In 2021, the infielder was signed by the Minnesota Twins and played 11 games in Wichita and 64 in St. Paul. In nine minor league seasons, Johnson has appeared in 896 games, hitting .247 with a .362 on-base percentage. He has scored 539 runs and driven home 364. The infielder has 543 career walks in the minors.

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
Week 6 – Leobaldo Pina, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Week 7 – Kacy Clemens, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 8 – Aaron Takacs, Sioux Falls Canaries
Week 9 – Kacy Clemens, Cleburne Railroaders
Week 10 – Keon Barnum, Milwaukee Milkmen
Week 11 – Raul Navarro, Winnipeg Goldeyes
Week 12 – Peter Maris, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Week 13 – David Washington, Winnipeg Goldeyes
Week 14 – John Silviano, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

By Robert Pannier