Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

No rest for the wicked at 'Flintoff & Dunn' with the onset of the new Rookie League seasons adding to our statistical duties and, along with this, our job was made a fair bit tougher this week with a few other leagues coming off All-Star game breaks and thereby reducing the sample sizes of some players.

However, you will never hear us complaining about a bumper crop of Aussie players attracting our attention for their positive exploits in the US professional ranks as we found again this past week. You will soon find that four players could not be separated for our top award this week, while there were several others who were hard to leave out.

Once again we will not find room for our major league guys PETER MOYLAN and GRANT BALFOUR because of their few innings pitched, even though they both posted three scoreless relief appearances for the Rays and the Braves respectively. New York Mets Rookie STEFAN WELCH couldn't quite squeeze in with his 5-15 batting and nor could Cleveland's short-season 'A' leaguer JASON SMIT whose 7-25 included four walks and two stolen bases.

We thought we would be by-passing JUSTIN HUBER who batted for a modest .222 average this week until we noticed the four home runs that lifted his slugging percentage to .704, plus his NINE HUGE RBIs! Also earning "Honourable Mention" was ever-present 'AAA' star TRENT OELTJEN whose .368 included a double, a triple and a long ball that would have seen him earn our top award on most occasions. Likewise Boston 'A' baller MITCH DENING who batted .400 for the week. The other lad we included for special mention was Mets' Rookie LACHLAN HODGE who collected a win from his three innings of scoreless, NO-HIT pitching.

So, you might well ask, who could possibly eclipse those efforts for the top awards this week?

Let's start with Minnesota Twins Advanced-Rookie LIAM HENDRIKS who would surely be playing at a higher level if not for the injury that deprived him of playing the entire 2008 pro season. In the meantime, as 'Flintoff & Dunn' regulars would be well aware, this lad has taken the Claxton Shield by storm with consecutive starring seasons that saw him collect a pair of Championship Medals. And, just for good measure, he also distinguished himself as Australia's youngest player at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Back in professional action last week, Hendriks picked up where he left off as one of our joint 2007 Rookie Players of the Year with a scoreless six inning start that featured a typically potent 6/0 strike out versus walk ratio. Not dissimilar was the effort of Diamondbacks' 'AAA' star TRAVIS BLACKLEY who collected a win with 5.1 scoreless innings from two appearances with 6/1 strike outs versus walks.

Australia's second youngest player at the WB Classic was Minnesota's infield whiz JIMMY BERESFORD who added a pair of walks to his bulging .429 average to give him a .500 on base percentage... he has featured often among our awards this season. WA's MATT KENNELLY would have enjoyed taking some of the limelight from brother Tim this week with his .429 average that comprised a double and a home run for his .714 slugging percentage.

We just weren't prepared to leave any of these guys out. We thought they all deserved our top award this week:

LIAM HENDRIKS  (R+ - Elizabethton Twins)    1G   0-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  3H  0ER  0BB  6K  --  Season  0-0, 0.00ERA

TRAVIS BLACKLEY  (AAA - Reno Aces)    2G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.1IP  5H  0ER  1BB  6K  --  Season  2-3, 4.81ERA

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    4G   .429AVG  14AB  1R  6H  1RBI  2WLK  .500OB%  --  Season  .288AVG

MATT KENNELLY  (A - Rome Braves)    4G   .429AVG  14AB  1R  6H  1D  1HR  .714SLG%  --  Season  .429AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

For some reason we have decided to be a little more forgiving in relation to relief pitchers who have relatively small samples of innings pitched during the past week, probably because we thought they deserved some special mention. This also allows us to include our major league guys who have been just missing their due kudos recently. GRANT BALFOUR and PETER MOYLAN both produced three impressive scoreless relief efforts for their teams last week and we will give them "Honourable Mention". We also thought that DAVID WELCH was worthy of special mention with just one run coming from his solid six inning start that ended with a no-decision. We will also add MATT WILLIAMS who allowed one run but he also collected a win from his two relief efforts to just scrape in for a mention.

Another Aussie major leaguer RICHARD THOMPSON also produced a neat relief outing at the end of a losing game for the LA Angels but we didn't think he quite deserved the same attention as the others mentioned after one relief outing.

Just missing out because of too few at bats this week were Minnesota's 'High-A' utility DANNY BERG who batted 4-9 with a .778 slugging percentage, along with JASON SMIT who batted 4-10 during his first week with Cleveland's short-season 'A' team Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

For our major award this week, we were unable to separate hitters TRENT OELTJEN and TIM KENNELLY from pitching ace DREW NAYLOR... each of whom have not been strangers to these awards over recent years. Kennelly's 8-16 may have shaded Oeltjen's 9-26 in terms of pure statistics, but we could not ignore the ten extra at bats in Trent's sample. While he has been a bit inconsistent this season, 'Drew-K' Naylor reminded us of his brilliant best form with a somewhat typical seven inning winning start that featured a 9/0 strike out versus walk ratio. We hope you agree that none of these players deserved to miss out on out top award this week. Nice work fellas!

We thought they all deserved our top award this week:

DREW NAYLOR  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  4H  0ER  0BB  9K  --  Season  4-6, 4.24ERA

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    6G   .346AVG  26AB  4R  9H  3D  1T  4WLK  .538SLG%  --  Season  .282AVG

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    4G   .500AVG  16AB  4R  8H  1D  1T  1WLK  .688SLG%  --  Season  .310AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Not entirely unusually, our toughest considerations this week were among our substantial pitching ranks where there were a number of pitchers who we thought were "borderline" selections. Our winner though would be an outstanding hitter who found his stroke again during this past week.

Just missing special mention were past and present major league guys GRANT BALFOUR, RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH and TRAVIS BLACKLEY, along with AROOS reliever BRENDAN WISE. Balfour boasted a win from his 2.1 scoreless innings but his sample was just too small for us this time. Rowland-Smith bounced back from a nightmare outing at 'AAA' level with a tidy six inning start that yielded just two earned runs, but he collected a loss in the game. Travis Blackley pitched four scoreless innings for 'AAA' Reno but he did not figure in the result of his single outing this time. Brendan Wise allowed just one hit and no runs from his three innings over two outings at 'Adv-A' Lakeland.

Subjectively, we rated winning starters DREW NAYLOR and RYAN SEARLE just ahead of them, along with reliever ADAM BRIGHT and unlucky loser BRAD TIPPETT. Naylor allowed just two runs from his 6.2 innings win, while Searle allowed one run from his 5.1 innings victory. Adam Bright's 3.1 innings might have been almost too small to consider, but we thought the fact that he didn't allow a single base runner was quite significant while striking out two. Although he took a loss, we could not overlook Brad Tippett's 6.0 inning start that allowed just two runs with a monumental 9/1 strike outs versus walks ratio.

TRENT OELTJEN was worthy of special mention after batting .350 for the week, as did STEFAN WELCH whose .316 was complimented by a hefty .526 slugging percentage. However, while it would be most unusual for us to mention a player with a modest .235 for the period, we couldn't completely ignore the performance of JOEL NAUGHTON who produced six RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage for the week.

Head and shoulders above all of them, we thought, was recent major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER who broke out with 8-20 and a whopping .650 slugging percentage for Minnesota's 'AAA' Rochester.

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

JUSTIN HUBER  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    5G   .400AVG  20AB  3R  8H  2D  1HR  .650SLG%  --  Season  .280AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

For once, it seems, there were not too many players worthy of serious deliberation this week as we work through a relatively skinny PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK adjudication.

JOSH WELLS could not expect a special mention with his 1-1, 6.75ERA record for the week, but he did achieve the quite remarkable feat of striking out 13 hitters form his 9.1 total innings. Best of the pitchers was Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH whose 1-0, 0.00ERA record from his 5.2 innings start was outstanding. We will also sneak in our major league favourite PETER MOYLAN for three scoreless relief appearances, even though they spanned just 3.2 innings.

While they did not feature perfect ERA's for the week we also felt that pitchers DREW NAYLOR and PAUL MILDREN were worthy of mention. From his two starts Naylor allowed four earned runs from 15 innings while striking out twelve and he must have been unlucky to be saddled with a loss. Mildren collected a win from his two starts that yielded three earned runs from his total of ten innings with a 4/0 strike out versus walk ratio.

Seasoned former major league star CHRIS SNELLING is maintaining his lofty standards in the Mexican 'AAA' league with 6-18 this week with a .611 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage.

Standing out like the proverbial beacon this week was Philadelphia's Advanced-A catcher TIM KENNELLY who blazed a brilliant 9-22 with a .636 slugging percentage and six walks that lifted his on base percentage to .536. PHEW!!

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    7G   .409AVG  22AB  3R  9H  2D  1HR  6WLK  .636SLG%  --  Season  .319AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

I know that we say it just about every time, but it really was another interesting week for our Aussie professional baseballers and, once more, it wasn't too easy for us to separate or compare some of the various statistics this week.

While we have no qualms about our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK, there were others close to sharing the top award and, as you will see, several that we could not overlook for "Honourable Mention".

Maybe closest to sharing our top award was Minnesota pitcher BRAD TIPPETT who gave up only one run in his winning start while walking none and striking out seven. Similarly DREW NAYLOR who allowed two runs in his seven inning winning start with the same brilliant 7/0 strike outs versus walks ratio. BRENDAN WISE earned a win among his three scoreless relief appearances, while RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH won his single scoreless start to come very close to the top award. Another former major leaguer enjoying great success this season is DAMIAN MOSS who allowed just one run from his four appearances while collecting two more wins! Seasoned PAUL MILDREN also pitched a winning start that yielded just one run and MATT WILLIAMS made three scoreless relief appearances that were just a bit brief for us.

Among the hitters in consideration were the consistent TIM KENNELLY whose 6-18 was very good again and hard to separate from fellow catcher JOEL NAUGHTON whose 5-16 included two doubles and a home run for his .625 slugging percentage. As previously mentioned, we will not include the Mexican League as part of these awards, but CHRIS SNELLING has been on a tear last week with a mighty .391 batting average and a .696 slugging percentage.

Earning a special mention for the third week in succession, and this time scooping our top award, was Minnesota Twins World Baseball Classic tyro JIMMY BERESFORD whose 11-28 as a short stop and leadoff hitter is spectacular with a .433 on base percentage, five RBIs and just two strike outs during the term. In fact, Beresford has struck out just five times in his last ten-plus games... you know what they say about putting the ball in play! Nice going James!

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    7G   .393AVG  28AB  6R  11H  1D  5RBI  .433OB%  --  Season  .315AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Not dissimilar to last week, we were delighted to see our major league lads, past and present, performing up to the standards we have come to expect. Current major league relief specialists PETER MOYLAN and GRANT BALFOUR made four and three scoreless appearances respectively, but their total innings were too small for special mention this time. Balfour added a win last week, as did former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS whose 3.2 innings total was not quite enough for us either on this occasion. While on the subject of major leaguers, it was great to see RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH back in action pitching a rehab appearance for Seattle's 'AAA' Tacoma Rainiers.

Another recent major league Aussie TRAVIS BLACKLEY is presently enjoying a spell as a middle reliever in 'AAA' ball after suffering a tough start to the 2009 season. Blackley has maintained his tremendously good statistics for strike outs per inning and strike outs versus walks, but he has been allowing a few too many hits in what is traditionally known as a "Hitters League"... the PCL. We were delighted to see Travis bounce back lately and he will take a share of our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK Award this time. The cream usually rises to the top eventually... well done Travis!

Also adding to their recent consistency were Australia's World Baseball Classic middle infield duo of JAMES BERESFORD and BRAD HARMAN. Harman's .370 average earned him a share of our top award, while Beresford earned another "Honourable Mention" for his .300 that included four multi-hit games this past week.

TIM KENNELLY's .333 came from only 12 at bats to deny him a special mention, unlike pitchers JOSHUA WELLS and BRADLEY TIPPETT who, we thought, did enough to warrant "Honourable Mention". Just ahead of them as our third joint winner of our top award this week was another World Baseball Classic pitcher DAVID WELCH whose scoreless winning start was comparable with Travis Blackley's two brilliant relief appearances.

The three players we thought deserved the top award this week were:

BRADLEY HARMAN  (AA - Reading Phillies)    7G   .370AVG  27AB  5R  10H  3D  1HR  3RBI  .593SLG%  --  Season  .293AVG

TRAVIS BLACKLEY  (AAA - Reno Aces)    2G   0-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  5H  0ER  1BB  6K  --  Season  0-3, 5.89ERA

DAVID WELCH  (AA - Huntsville Stars)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  5H  0ER  0BB  3K  --  Season  2-3, 6.51ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

This week, we felt, there were a couple of stand-out performers which weren't too difficult to assess but, behind them was a host of worthy efforts that were very hard to separate.

Among those that just missed special mention were Australian major leaguers past and present. PETER MOYLAN made four scoreless relief appearances for the Atlanta Braves but his total of 1.2 innings was a bit small for us this time. GRANT BALFOUR was also very good with four appearances for 6.1 innings, but he did allow a couple of earned runs. RICHARD THOMPSON collected a win among his 4.1 innings, but his 4.15ERA was a fraction too high in this company, even though he struck out eight. DAMIAN MOSS was pretty close with just one run allowed from his 4.2 innings with eight strike outs.

The one hitter to just miss a mention was MICHAEL COLLINS whose .364 average came from just eleven at bats. BRADLEY TIPPETT and PAUL MILDREN both pitched good starts for their teams but just missed special mention here.

Sneaking in for "Honourable Mention" this week were pitchers BRENDAN WISE and MATTHEW WILLIAMS who both produced 3.1 scoreless innings while also collecting a win and a save respectively. Australia's 2009 World Baseball Classic middle infield duo BRAD HARMAN (.379) and JIM BERESFORD (.360) have both started to heat up with the bat lately.

Recent major league slugger JUSTIN HUBER is really racking up the numbers in recent games with a massive .480 average, while we decided not to separate him from TIM KENNELLY whose .409 was spiced with a .777 slugging %.

The two players we thought deserved the top award this week were:

JUSTIN HUBER  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    7G   .480AVG  25AB  5R  12H  1D  1T  6RBI  .600SLG%  --  Season  .343AVG

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    7G   .409AVG  22AB  4R    9H  5D  1HR  8RBI  .773SLG%  --  Season  .298AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

You may get tired of hearing us say how difficult it has been this week to adjudicate, or separate, our Pro Player of the Week Awards this week... but it really has been once again, as we think you'll see!

Dual winner RYAN SEARLE proved a little more "human" this week with a loss, but then he did only give up one earned run over five innings. Big leaguer PETER MOYLAN also pitched two separate scoreless innings of relief as a positive sign in his comeback season. On this occasion neither of them really came into consideration for an award.

Just missing out on a special mention was Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH who pitched a winning start for their Huntsville Stars with 6.0 innings for three earned runs and 6/1 strikeouts versus walks. Also just missing due to their small number of at bats (nine each) were ALLAN de SAN MIGUEL and MICHAEL COLLINS. De San Miguel batted .333 with Minnesota's 'A' Beloit Snappers, while Collins batted .444 with a 1.000 slugging percentage for San Diego's 'AA' San Antonio Missions. No doubt Collins would have been in contention had he been allowed a few more plate appearances.

Players who would have been a chance for the top award in other weeks and desperately close this time were pitchers DREW NAYLOR, who returned to form with the 'A+' Clearwater Phillies and RICHARD THOMPSON, who is pitching solidly in relief for the LA Angels' 'AAA' Salt Lake Bees. Hitters also in the mix were Minnesota's 'A+' utility DANIEL BERG and Arizona's tremendously consistent 'AAA' outfielder TRENT OELTJEN, who are both no strangers to these awards.

The two players we thought rated just ahead of them are Minnesota Twins duo:

BRAD TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    2G   2-0, 1.38ERA  13.0IP  8H  2ER  1BB  11K  --  Season  3-0, 2.73ERA

LUKE HUGHES  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    7G   .379AVG  29AB  6R  11H  2D  2HR  5RBI  .655SLG%  --  Season  .311AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Our major league regulars GRANT BALFOUR and PETER MOYLAN have started the 2009 season a bit too inconsistently to figure in these awards just yet, while RICHARD THOMPSON gets a minor mention this week for striking out five in two scoreless relief innings for the Los Angeles Angels 'AAA' Salt Lake Bees.

Australia's World Baseball Classic middle infield stars BRAD HARMAN and JAMES BERESFORD were conspicuous with rising statistics this week. Harman is starting to find some welcome batting form after starting the season slowly; this week he batted 7-24 for Philadelphia's 'AA' Reading with a double, a triple and a home run for a .542 slugging percentage.
Young Minnesota Twins star Beresford is back on track after a stint on the DL due to a minor shoulder injury with 5-18 plus a couple of walks for his .350 on base percentage with their 'A' Beloit Snappers this week.

Former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS could make an incredible return to the big leagues with his solid relief pitching so far this season for Colorado's 'AAA' Sky Sox... this past week he pitched four times with only one earned run from 4.0 innings with a 3/0 strike out versus walk ratio. Minnestoa's MATTHEW WILLIAMS and BRAD TIPPETT produced similar statistics. Williams pitched a total of 5.1 innings for just two earned runs and a 6/3 strike out versus walk ratio, while Tippett produced one very competent start with only one earned run coming from his 5.1 innings of work. Both played with Minnesota's 'A' level Beloit Snappers.

Even though his sample comprised just three innings of relief pitching, another "Honourable Mention" for this week will go to SHANE LINDSAY who earned a win and a 5/1 strikeout versus walk ratio from three relief appearances with Colorado's 'AA' Tulsa Drillers.

We won't need to further detail the statistics of this week's top nominations as they should speak for themselves. We will only provide a special congratulation to young RYAN SEARLE who has already become our first multiple award winner in the early weeks of the 2009 season. We would also expect to see TRENT OELTJEN winning our award more than once this season after winning it several times during 2008; we still think he could be Australia's next major leaguer!

This week's nominations are:

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    6G   .476AVG  21AB  3R  10H  5D  3T  6RBI  1.000SLG%  --  Season  .316AVG

Ryan SEARLE  (A+ - Daytona Cubs)    2G   0-0, 0.00ERA  10.0IP  4H  0ER  2BB  7K  --  Season  2-1, 1.88ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Although there was not a multitude of players making a genuine bid for our awards this week, it was nonetheless quite difficult to separate some performances from others. One player who did not have a large enough sample to consider was our former major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER who started his new challenge with the Minnesota Twins at 'AAA' level batting a "perfect" 2-2, including a home run... let's state the obvious that it was a highly promising start.

Another former major leaguer CHRIS SNELLING is making a big impact in the 'AAA' Mexican League with the Sultanes de Monterrey. He boosted an already terrific batting average with 8-21 this week for a .381 average. We have not included players from non-USA main stream leagues in the past, so we will limit him to just a "general mention".

"Honourable Mentions will go to TIM KENNELLY, who batted .350 this past week, along with MITCH DENING, who batted .310.

Relief pitchers with 0.00ERAs for the week included JOSHUA HILL, from a total of 5.2 innings, and DAMIAN MOSS, from 4.1 innings. PAUL MILDREN collected a win with his impressive five inning, one run start.

Just shading all of those for our PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, we thought, were RYAN SEARLE who pitched a scoreless, one hit, six inning start for a win and LUKE HUGHES who added a triple and two home runs to his .294 average for a massive .765 slugging percentage for the week.

This week's nominations are:

Ryan SEARLE  (A+ - Daytona Cubs)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  1H  0ER  0BB  2K  --  Season  1-1, 3.21ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

‘Flintoff & Dunn’ are happy to be back in harness, bringing you our US PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK again in 2009.

This year we will start by assessing all players stats so far in the new US pro season, whether they have spanned beyond seven days or not so far. These are our initial Pro Players of the Week for 2009.

On this occasion we could not seriously consider Minnesota's JAMES BERESFORD (.400 from 5ABs) or Philadelphia's JOEL NAUGHTON (.333 from 9 ABs) due to the small sample size.

You will see that most of our "Honourable Mentions" this week were desperately close to sharing the top award!

This week's nominations are: