Indians name Lake County 1B/DH Nellie Rodriguez Minor League Player of the Week

The Cleveland Indians today announced that Single-A Lake County 1B/DH NELLIE RODRIGUEZ has been named Indians Minor League Player of the Week for July 7-13. The Indians Player of the Week Award recognizes an individual performance from within the Indians Player Development System and is announced each Tuesday through the end of the Minor League season.

Rodriguez, 20, hit .360 (9-25) with a double, 3 home runs, 10 RBI, 6 runs scored and a 1.120 OPS (.360 OBP/.760 SLG) in 6 games for the Captains this week. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound first baseman is also riding a 14-game hit streak dating back to June 29, as the big right-hander is batting just shy of .400 (.383; 23-60) with 4 doubles, 7 homers, 21 RBI and 16 runs scored over that stretch. Rodriguez's 7 home runs over his last 14 contests are T1st in all of Single-A, and just one shy of tops in Minor League baseball over that span. Nellie's recent power surge has propelled him into a Lake County-best 16 home runs on the season (2nd in Midwest League), as his 52 RBI and 153 total bases also lead the Captains.

Rodriguez entered the 2014 campaign coming off of a career season with Mahoning Valley in 2013. Rodriguez was the staple of the Scrappers offense, leading the club in virtually every offensive statistical category; he appeared in 73 games, pacing the club in hits (75), home runs (9), doubles (16), RBI (37) and OPS (.818). Rodriguez was originally drafted by Cleveland in the 15th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of George Washington High School in New York City, the same HS that produced former Tribe outfielder Manny Ramirez.