NEW YORK -- The MLB Draft League announced that Frederick’s Alec Sanchez and James Deloatch were named Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for the period of July 7 to July 16.
Sanchez, 24, earns Hitter of the Week honors after batting .344 (11-for-32) with four home runs, seven RBIs and 11 runs scored in seven games for the Keys. The outfielder led the league in home runs, runs scored and total bases (24), ranked second in slugging percentage (.750) and hits (tied), and finished fifth in OPS (1.114) and RBI (tied).
Sanchez recorded three multi-hit performances while hitting safely in five of seven games for the Keys during the period. He homered in back-to-back games against Williamsport and Mahoning Valley on July 7 and July 11, respectively, and he notched his first multi-hit game of the season against the Scrappers on July 13. Sanchez was 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored against State College on July 15 and closed out his award-winning week with a two-homer game on Sunday, finishing 4-for-5 with three RBIs and four runs scored.
A Jacksonville, Fla., native, Sanchez batted .332/.411/.601 with 59 hits, including a team-leading 13 home runs, and 35 RBIs over 47 games this past spring as a Florida International University redshirt senior. He became the first Panther since 2019 to earn All-Conference USA First Team honors and also took home Conference USA’s All-Academic Team honors.
Deloatch, 23, garners Pitcher of the Week honors after the left-handed pitcher went 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA across 11 innings in two starts for the Keys. He led all Draft League pitchers (10 IP min.) during the period in WHIP (0.73) and opponents’ batting average (.118), was second in ERA and finished tied for fifth in strikeouts (12).
Deloatch allowed two hits and two walks while striking out eight over five scoreless innings to the win in his Frederick debut against Williamsport on July 8. In his start against State College on July 14, Deloatch permitted one run on two hits with four strikeouts over six innings. The Norfolk, Va., native went 1-2 with 39 strikeouts in 35 innings as a Limestone Unversity senior this past spring. He appeared in 11 games, including eight starts. Before finishing his collegiate career at Limestone, Deloatch pitched parts of four seasons at Norfolk State.
For more information about the MLB Draft League, visit mlbdraftleague.com or follow @mlbdraftleague & @draftleaguedata on Twitter, and @mlbdraftleague on Instagram.
