Three Stars of the Day 6/19/09


1. Kyle Russell - RHP - Great Lakes Loons (A-)

After a game in which he was 0-5. Russell had a perfect day at the plate, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. Russell homered, doubled twice, and walked twice in the Loons 10-1 blowout win. Russell finished the day with three RBI and two runs scored. Russell's 17 Home Runs lead the Midwest league. With his thee RBI, Russell also reclaimed the RBI lead with a season total of 55. The former Longhorn also leads the circuit in slugging percentage checking in at .579. Other than his infamous strikeout rate, another knock on Russell are his lefty/righty splits. The southpaw has struggled heavily against lefties this year, OPSing just .948. Nick Buss also had a great day at the plate hitting his fifth Home Run of the year and driving in four runs. Geison Aguasviva picked up his first win in his first start of the year throwing five shutout innings and striking out four.

2. Scott Elbert - LHP - Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)

Elbert lost his third game of the year dropping his record to 2-3 but he continues his impressive strikeout rate. Elbert K'd ten batters in five innings, however he did walk five men. He gave up three earned runs on three hits. Elbert has struck out 47 batters in his last 29 innings (five starts). Overall Elbert has struck out 87 batters in 62.1 innings of work. Elbert who is perhaps working with a 100 pitch limit has yet to reach seven innings pitched in any of his eleven starts.

3. Pedro Baez - 3B - Inland Empire 66ers (A+)

Baez extended his modest hitting streak to five with a three hit effort in the 66ers 6-4 win. Baez smacked two doubles and singled. He also walked giving him a 3-4 day at the dish. Baez drove in two runs and scored twice. The two doubles gave Baez twelve on the year and his 43 RBI give him a tie for first on the team with Scott Van Slyke. Alberto Bastardo struck out eight batters in six and two-thirds innings but he earned a no decision for his efforts.