Two Las Vegas Hustlers were honored with Frick League Player of the Week Awards in April. Neither one is one of the teams biggest stars, and both were very appreciative of the honor.
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Washington Week's Best in FL: Las Vegas Hustlers center fielder
Jeff Washington rose above the controversy surrounding his soon-to-expire contract, thriving under pressure last week and copping the Player of the Week award in the Frick League.
Washington put up a .700 batting average (7-10) with 2 home runs, 4 RBIs and scored 7 times.
The 29 year old Washington is indeed a free agent at the end of this season. He's long been a fixture in the Las Vegas lineup since they made him a Supplemental #1 pick in the 2001 draft. He actually made the majors that year for a bit, then not at all in 2002, served in a backup role in 2003, and became the full time centerfielder in 2004. He's earned the Frick League Zimmer Award in each of the three seasons he's played full time in centerfield (2004, 2006, 2007). Last year, he was injured and lost some playing time to
Evan Grant. This year, Grant was sent back to AAA to play full time, leaving Washington as the starting centerfielder once again. Could this be his last year in Las Vegas? Anything is possible.
Monday, April 20th, 2009
27-year-old
Rubén Venegas sent shock waves through Montgomery Brewster Baseball Association last week with an eye-popping performance that brought him the Frick League Player of the Week Award.
A newcomer to the league, Venegas made the establishment sit up and take notice, punishing opposing pitchers with a .435 average, 10 hits in 23 at-bats, 3 home runs and 8 RBI.
Where the Las Vegas Hustlers third baseman goes from here, only the baseball gods know for sure, but Venegas certainly made his mark last week.
A look at his season totals shows Venegas with 5 home runs, .295 BA, .317 OBP, 14 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Venegas is getting his first full time job in the majors after serving as the Hustlers primary pinch hitter and occasional starter versus LHP last season. He's become the every day third baseman with veteran
Roman Empire shifting to shortstop for this year. "Defensively, it's not an ideal situation for us," said manager
Elroy Futon. "It might be for just this year, or we may have to make an adjustment before then. With
"Lion King" hitting the way he is, there's no way to move Ruben over to third just now, so this is where he'll play. Honestly, we're more concerned with how Empire will hold up at shortstop." The club cleared a starting spot for Venegas by moving Joshua Carruthers to Greenville prior to the season.
