Turang and Bello Earn Players of the Month; Shook and Strzelecki Named Pitchers of the Month
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have named infielder Brice Turang and outfielder Micah Bello as their Minor League Players of the Month for April and right-handers TJ Shook and Peter Strzelecki as Minor League Pitchers of the Month.
Turang, 22, hit .313 (26-for-83) with 2 HR and 14 RBI in 20 games for Triple-A Nashville in April, making starts at shortstop (17g) and center field (3g).
Selected by the Brewers in the first round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft, Turang hit .404 (19-for-47) with 2 HR and 10 RBI on a recent 11-game hitting streak. The first 10 games of the run came in April. His 26 hits in April ranked eighth in the International League.
Turang recorded a career-high in hits in a 12-2 win over Charlotte on April 22, finishing 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI.
Bello, 21, batted .356 (21-for-59) with 2 HR and 13 RBI in 18 games for Class-A Carolina in April. After his strong first month of the season, Bello earned a promotion to Class-A Wisconsin on May 3.
Picked by Milwaukee in Competitive Balance Round B of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft, Bello ranked among April leaders in the Carolina League in doubles (T2nd, 6), batting average (4th, .356), slugging percentage (5th, .559), OPS (6th, .994), hits (T7th, 21), total bases (T7th, 33) and on-base percentage (8th, .435).
Shook, 23, went 1-1 with a 1.37 ERA (19.2ip, 3er) and 27 strikeouts in 4 appearances (2 starts) for Class-A Wisconsin in April. The right-hander allowed opponents to bat just .125 (8-for-64) against him in the opening month of the season. He recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts over 5 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win at Beloit on April 15.
Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of South Carolina in July of 2020, Shook tied for fifth in the Midwest League in strikeouts and tied for eighth in innings pitched for April.
Strzelecki, 27, finished April at 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA (8.2ip, 1er), 11 strikeouts and 1 save in 8 relief appearances for Triple-A Nashville. The University of South Florida product was unscored upon in 7 of his 8 outings in April with the lone tally against him coming on a solo home run.
Signed as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2018, Strzelecki struck out 11 of the 30 batters he faced in April and allowed opponents to hit just .107 (3-for-28).
COURTESY MILWAUKEE BREWERS & MLBpressbox.com
