TWitM: Frank Schwindel tops MiLB bats

This is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: "Who had a good week?"

Today, we’ll cover results from Monday, August 7 through Sunday, August 13.

AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (57-63)

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Frank Schwindel is on a month-long tear that puts him at the top of the Minors in basically everything:

This week, the 25-year-old first baseman added 13 hits, including 4 doubles.

Veteran catcher Brayan Peña dropped in seven singles in his four games. Tony Boone of the Omaha World-Herald profiled Peña, a 35-year-old among players a decade younger than him. I also mention Peña as an excuse to share this exuberant photo from a run he scored on Friday:

Minda Haas Kuhlmann

Left-hander Eric Skoglund was solid on Thursday, with nine strikeouts and one walk in seven innings. He allowed four hits and two runs.

24-year-old righty Andres Machado was recently added to the Omaha rotation after spending most of 2017 in High-A Wilmington. His best start yet as a Storm Chaser came on Saturday, when he held Iowa to just one run on four hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Right-handed reliever Kevin Lenik, signed out of the independent Frontier League in June, contributed five strikeouts in four shutout innings this week, in two outings. Lefty reliever Sam Selman also pitched four shutout innings in two outings this week, with six strikeouts and zero walks.

AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (60-60)

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Right fielder Anderson Miller led Northwest Arkansas’ offense this week, with nine hits. He hit his 17th and 18th doubles of the season overall, and 7th in his 42 games at Double-A. Second baseman Jack Lopez socked two dingers in his return to the Naturals, after he spent some time with Omaha. He previously had two all season.

Lefty Foster Griffin pitched his longest game in Double-A on Saturday, going 7.2 innings with two runs on eight hits given up. Griffin was Kansas City’s first-round draft pick in 2014, 28th overall.

Fellow southpaw Emilio Ogando went deep in the next day’s game, with seven shutout innings. Ogando gave up five hits and a walk, and struck out three. He was returning to the Naturals after making a spot start for Omaha last Tuesday.

A-Adv. Wilmington Blue Rocks (62-57)

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Nick Heath is an outfielder the Royals drafted in the 16th round in 2016. This week, he got on base 18 times in 30 plate appearances, which is an on base percentage of .600. All 10 of his hits were singles, and he walked an impressive eight times.

Righty Scott Blewett went deep into Thursday’s game, holding on for seven innings in which he yielded one earned run on six hits. He struck out four and walked two. BLewett averages about five and two-thirds innings per start in 2017.

Low-A Lexington Legends (54-64)

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The Legends did not win any games this week. Catcher Emmanuel Rivera hit well, however, sprinkling four doubles and a home run among his 12 hits. Rivera leads the South Atlantic league in hits in 2017, with 125.

Center fielder Khalil Lee struck out 10 times in 30 plate appearances this week, but also came up with nine hits. Among those were two doubles, a triple, and a home run. The home run was his team-leading 14th.

The Legends are 12 games out of first place and unlikely to make the postseason.

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Miscellany:

• Paulo Orlando’s rehab assignment was moved to Omaha on Saturday.
• First baseman Ryan O’Hearn was moved down from Omaha to Northwest Arkansas.

• O’Hearn was in the midst of a slump in addition to the impending roster crunch Scoles mentioned. Since July 24, O’Hearn was hitting .150/.257/.283 with 23 strikeouts.
• Hunter Dozier fractured his nose last week, but will play through it. He was moved up from Northwest Arkansas to Omaha.
• 2017 first-round pick Nick Pratto had an eight-game hitting streak and smacked his third home run. He also has nine steals.

Did anyone see any minor league games this week? Who did you see, and what did you think of them?