Cleburne Railroaders outfielder Zach Nehrir and Sioux City Explorers starter Mitch Verburg were named the American Association’s Pointstreak Batter and Pitcher of the Week awards for the first week of the 2023 season-ending May 14th, the league announced Monday.
Nehrir got off to a hot start for a Cleburne team who scored a total of 47 runs across their four game set on the road in Sioux Falls, with 45 of those being in the final three games in which they won. Nehrir helped cap off the Railroaders’ series victory with a three-run home run on Sunday, as well as a bases-clearing double to put the game out of reach on Saturday.
In those first four games Nehrir went 7-for-15 at the plate for a .467 average with two home runs. He leads the league with 11 RBI, seven walks and a whopping 1.569 OPS.
The Sugar Land, Texas native is in his fourth season playing in his home state of Texas and fifth season playing in the American Association. He’s coming off his best statistical season last year when he played in 95 games and hit .314 with a career-high 17 home runs, 72 RBI and 35 stolen bases.
Verburg started his season off the right way on the mound, pitching a gem against Kansas City and helping the Explorers sweep their season-opening doubleheader, as well as the entire series.
Verburg had the bump in game two of the doubleheader and he picked up the win by going five strong innings while allowing just one hit, no walks and striking out nine Monarchs hitters.
After finishing his college ball in his home state of Oregon at Oregon State, Verburg joined the Explorers in 2022 where he pitched in 17 games out of the bullpen. He finished with a 1.47 ERA across 24.1 innings pitched with 32 strikeouts and just seven walks as well.
Pointstreak is the official statistician of the American Association.
