On Monday afternoon, the Patriots announced that pitcher J.P Sears and infielder Diego Castillo have been named the Double-A Northeast League Pitcher and Player of the week, respectively, for the games played from June 1 -6.
Castillo returned from a nine day stint on the IL with a leg injury and was one of the key contributors in the Patriots 4-2 series victory over Reading this past week. The 23-year old infielder batted an even .500 (10-for-20) with three homers and four RBI on the week. Overall, Castillo is now slashing .350/.412/.633 with four homers, 11 RBI and is three-for-three on stolen base attempts.
JP Sears pitching for the Somerset Patriots on May 7, 2021. (Chris Jones)
Sears, who has mostly served as a multi-inning piggyback reliever on the backend of Janson Junk’s starts, pitched twice during this week. The 25-year old southpaw made his first start of the season last Tuesday in the series opener against Reading and tossed five innings without surrendering an earned run to go along with 10 punch outs. Sears showcased some versatility by coming out of the bullpen in a short stint on Sunday by tossing a shutout frame in the series finale with Reading. Sears is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in six appearances; he has fanned 32 and walked just eight over 20 innings of work.
Somerset has grown accustomed to weekly honors in the early going of their time as a Yankees affiliate. Glenn Otto was named the leagues Pitcher of the Week for action between May 4-9 while outfielder Michael Beltre took home Player of the Week honors for the games played from May 17-23.
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