Dodgers’ William Cuevas, Yon Castro, Chris Newell win minors player of the week honors

For the third week in a row, three Dodgers minor leaguers won player or pitcher of the week awards at various levels. For the week ending April 30, the honorees were Triple-A Oklahoma City right-hander William Cuevas, High-A Great Lakes pitcher Yon Castro, and Low-A Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Chris Newell.

The Dodgers signed the veteran Cuevas to a minor league deal on April 6, and the 32-year-old has a 5.19 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 17⅓ innings in the high-flying Pacific Coast League. But last week, Cuevas allowed only one hit in five scoreless innings against Sacramento on Thursday, including this fielding gem.

Castro was plucked by the Dodgers from the Yankees in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in December. The right-hander has a 2.81 ERA through four starts, with 18 strikeouts in 16 innings.

He pitched five scoreless innings with four strikeouts on Saturday against Fort Wayne to win Midwest League honors. Castro turns 24 on May 23.

Newell had seven hits in 17 at-bats with two home runs, a double, seven runs scored, five RBI, and six walks, hitting .412/.565/.824 in six games for the Quakes to win California League honors.

Drafted by the Dodgers in the 13th round out of Virginia last year, Newell leads Rancho Cucamonga this season in both home runs (six) and stolen bases (five).