Four River Bandits alumni named Player or Pitcher of the Month at their respective Houston affiliates
DAVENPORT, Iowa (August 4, 2015) - Infielder Nick Tanielu is the Quad Cities River Bandits Player of the Month for July, and right-handed pitcher Angel Heredia is the team's Pitcher of the Month, the Houston Astros announced on Monday.
The Houston Astros Player Development Department named a Player and Pitcher of the Month at each of their minor league affiliate. These awards are chosen every month by the field staff of each team. Led by the River Bandits' 69-36 record through Sunday, the Astros have the best combined overall minor league record among all major league clubs at 359-289 - a .554 winning percentage. Six of the Astros' nine minor league clubs were in first place through Sunday.
Tanielu, drafted in the 14th round by Houston in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Washington State University, led the River Bandits with a .340 batting average, 34 hits, 11 doubles and 24 RBIs. The 22-year-old Huntsville, Ala., native and 2015 Midwest League All-Star also slugged .510, had an on-base percentage of .378, hit two home runs, and committed just three errors in a team-high 26 games defensively. Tanielu entered Tuesday fifth in the Midwest League and sixth among Houston Astros minor leaguers in batting average (.315) and fifth in the league in RBIs (56). He also leads Quad Cities this season in hits (107), doubles (24) and total bases (147). Tanielu won his second career monthly award, as he was the Player of the Month for Short-Season Class-A Tri-City in July 2014.
Heredia, signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Astros on April 20, 2012, out of Palenque, Dominican Republic, made seven relief appearances for the River Bandits in July, posting a 2-1 record and allowing one earned run in 16 2/3 innings for a 0.54 ERA. The 23-year-old converted three of five save opportunities and had 16 strikeouts while allowing seven hits and five walks. Named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for June 29-July 5, Heredia won his fourth career monthly honor, adding to his Pitcher of the Month awards for the Dominican Summer League Astros in June 2013 and August 2013, as well as for rookie-level Greeneville in July 2014.
For other Houston Astros affiliates, four former River Bandits were recognized as Player or Pitcher of the Month in July. Tyler White (2014) was the Player of the Month for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. For Double-A Corpus Christi, Michael Feliz (2014) was the Pitcher of the Month. With Class-A Advanced Lancaster, Ronnie Mitchell (2014) won Player of the Month, and Keegan Yuhl, who pitched with the River Bandits in 2014 and started the 2015 season with Quad Cities, was the JetHawks Pitcher of the Month.
