With recent OPRF graduates pursuing pro baseball dreams, each week Wednesday Journal is keeping readers informed of their progress. Stats are through Sunday.
In his first bad start of the season, Double A New Britain’s Justin Olson yielded four runs in three innings and took the loss July 19 against Reading. With three strikeouts, Olson kept alive his streak of striking out a batter in each of his 22 outings this season. He is second on the team in Ks with 70 despite being sixth in innings pitched at 59 2/3. (One teammate has 67 strikeouts in 111 innings.) Olson allowed the first three batters to reach and fell behind 2-0 in the first. He fell to 6-3 with a 4.83 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.
Vasili Spanos returned from a thigh bruise last week to DH in six games. His average dipped slightly to .309 as he went 5-for-21 with five RBIs. Spanos has hit much better when playing the field. As a position player, he is hitting .346 in 42 games, as a DH, .275 in 50 games. His OPS is .954 in the field and .803 as DH. Spanos led Double A Midland in nearly every offensive category a month ago, but he is now second in RBIs (58), tied for third in homers (eight), and second in hits (104). He leads the team in hitting and is fourth in the Texas League in OBP at .417.
-Compiled by Daniel Heim