A's Minor League Hitting Heroes: June 20-26

It only seemed fitting that we smacked the Gnats 16-0 yesterday afternoon after what our organization did all week... Go A's!

A's Minor League Hitting Heroes: June 20-26

Staff - Scout.com
June 27, 2005 at 1:33am ET

The Oakland A's minor league affiliates strung together some impressive offensive numbers this week. Stockton posted double-digit runs three times, Sacramento scored more than 10 runs twice and the Kane County Cougars broke the 10-run barrier once. Who were the individual big hitters for the A's affiliates this week?

Daric Barton : The Stockton Ports first baseman has been on the verge of breaking out in a big way for weeks now. That time finally arrived, as Barton put together one of the most impressive weeks of any A's minor league player all season.

The teenager collected 14 hits in 20 official at-bats, an impressive .700 clip. He scored nine runs, hit one double, one triple and one homerun and drove in five runs. He also walked seven times. In addition, Barton flashed his versatility in the field, as he made appearances at first base, catcher and third base during the week.

Barton, who was also named to the USA team in the upcoming Futures Game this week, is now hitting .319 with a 906 OPS. He has walked 59 times against 46 strikeouts and he has driven in 51 runs on the year.

Vasili Spanos : The Ports have relied on the middle of the order combo of Spanos and Barton all season, but that combo got broken up on June 23, when Spanos was promoted to Midland. Before he left Stockton, Spanos managed to hit two homeruns. Then, in his first game as a Rockhound, Spanos launched another homerun.

For the week, Spanos hit 9-18 between Stockton and Midland with those three homeruns, five runs scored, a double, 11 RBI and three walks. On the season, Spanos is hitting .313 with 10 homeruns, 59 RBI and an OPS over 950.

Freddie Bynum : Bynum ignited a strong Sacramento River Cats offense with a monster week in the lead-off spot. The speedy utilityman went 15-33 (.454) with six runs scored, two doubles, five RBI, two walks and two stolen bases.

Bynum was the A's top draft pick in the 2000 draft. Bynum currently has a 778 OPS and a .298 batting average. The 25 year-old left-handed hitter was originally a middle infielder, but he has been playing a lot of outfield and has made himself a very versatile player. The speedy Bynum is on pace to swipe more than 20 bags, something he has done every season as a pro.

Shawn Garrett : The Sacramento River Cats switch-hitting outfielder collected two homeruns and eight RBI, including a grandslam, this week. He also had a 5-6 night and went 10-28 on the week (.357).

Garrett was signed by the Oakland A's as a minor league free agent during the off-season. He is hitting .299 on the year with eight homeruns and 42 RBI.

Haas Pratt : The A's 30th round 2004 draft pick got his 2005 season off to a good start this week. He hit .347 and he scored nine runs, but what was most impressive about his week of work was the three homeruns he hit and the seven runs he drove in for a Vancouver team that got off to a solid 5-1 start.

Pratt spent the 2004 season with the A's Arizona Rookie League team and hit only one homerun in 35 games, so he is already well on his way to a career season.

Tom Everidge : The Kane County first baseman gets a gold star for the week for his efforts during Saturday evening's game. The Sonoma State grad hit for the cycle. Everidge's last hit -- a triple in the ninth inning -- drove in the game-winning run in the Cougars' 10-9 win. Everidge, who has been sharing time at first with Eddie Kim , is hitting .269 with seven homers and 33 RBI with an 807 OPS on the year.

Andre Ethier : Ethier didn't play an official game this week, but he made quite an impression in the one unofficial game he did play in. The Midland Rockhound star won the Texas League All-Star Game MVP and captured the Home Run Derby crown. Ethier is well on his way to a monster season. He is hitting .328 with 11 homers and 48 RBI. He has a 915 OPS.

Here's the link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=citadel-2_390849_304&prov=citadel&type=story