MOORHEAD, MN — Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks catcher Kevin Krause and Kansas City Monarchs starter Justin Donatella have been named the American Association’s Pointstreak Batter and Pitcher of the Week for the week ending August 22nd, the league announced Monday.
Krause is on fire for the RedHawks, leading the league with a .615 batting average, three home runs and 17 RBIs in 6 games this past week. Krause finished the week with four consecutive multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4, 6 RBI performance on Friday, August 20 and a 4-for-5, 5 RBI day Sunday August 22. Krause sports a .356 batting average for the full season, the best in the American Association.
A native of Staten Island, New York, Krause is in his first year with the RedHawks. The 28-year-old owns a .356/.402/.578 slash line in 73 games in 2021. A ninth-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014 out of Stony Brook, Krause has reached as high as Double-A Altoona in his minor league career. His last pro experience before this season came in 2018 with the Rockland Boulders of the CanAm League. This is the second time this season he’s received Batter of the Week honors; he earned the award for the week ending July 4.
Donatella earned his award with a complete-game two-hit shutout on Thursday, August 19 against Sioux City. The right-hander struck out nine batters while walking just one, throwing 101 pitches in a 4-0 Monarchs win. It was just his third start of 2021 after pitching out of the bullpen for much of the season. On the year he holds a 2.40 ERA in 13 games (three starts) with 34 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.
A California native, Donatella is making his American Association debut in 2021 He began the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization at Triple-A Reno before making his Monarchs debut on July 13. A 15th-round draft choice out of the University of California – San Diego in 2015, the now-26-year-old spent six seasons in Arizona’s system with 14 career Triple-A appearances.
Pointstreak is the official statistician of the American Association.
###
