The Los Angeles Dodgers organization had a pair of prospects honored with right-hander Jharel Cotton named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, and second baseman Willie Calhoun named Texas League Player of the Week.
Cotton was placed back in the Triple-A Oklahoma City starting rotation on May 23 after last starting April 24; he made six relief appearances between the two starts. Cotton impressed in his return to the rotation, firing five innings of one-run ball against the Fresno Grizzlies.
He collected a season-high 10 strikeouts, and also went 2-for-2 with one triple and one RBI. Cotton followed that up by holding the Sacramento River Cats to one run over five innings of work, while collecting five strikeouts.
On the season, the right-hander owns a 5.45 ERA over 39.2 innings pitched in 12 games (six starts). Cotton has recorded at least five strikeouts in each of his starts this season. He previously won a player of the week award with High-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2014 and Double-A Tulsa last season.
The Dodgers selected Cotton in the 20th round of the 2012 draft. As for Calhoun, he hit .423/.483/.885 (11-for-26) with three doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs over the week’s worth stretch of games. He put together three multi-hit performances, including a four-hit game.
On the season, Calhoun is batting .267/.325/.461 over 48 games in his first experience at the Double-A level. He hit .316/.390/.519 with 23 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 48 RBIs over 73 games last season.
Calhoun spent 38 games with Rookie Level Ogden in 2015, 15 with Low-A Great Lakes and finished the season with the Quakes, appearing in 20 games. Calhoun was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2015 draft.
