Courtesy of RedWingsBaseball.com
ROCHESTER, NY – Rochester Red Wings catcher Willians Astudillo has been named an International League mid-season All-Star, the league office announced Wednesday.
He becomes the first Rochester catcher named to the mid-season All-Star team since Jose Morales in 2007 and just the second Wings backstop to earn the honor since 1993.
Astudillo is batting .295/.326/.497 with 12 doubles, one triple, seven homers, 25 RBI, 17 runs scored and six stolen bases in 48 games this season. The seven homers are a career high and the six stolen bases match his total in 394 games from 2012-17. He leads the team in doubles and total bases (86) while ranking second in home runs. He’s appeared in 29 games at catcher, 12 at third base, four in left field and one at first base.
The 26-year-old from Venezuela has hit two game-winning home runs in the 9th inning this season. On May 23 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he took Tommy Kahnle deep for a two-run shot breaking a 2-2 deadlock in an eventual 4-3 win and on May 23 at Lehigh Valley, after rehabbing Miguel Sanó tied the game leading off the 9th with a homer against Pedro Beato, Astudillo hit his second home run of the night with two outs to give the Wings a 3-2 victory.
This is the third mid-season All-Star selection for Astudillo, joining 2014 with Single-A Lakewood of the South Atlantic League and 2016 with Double-A Mississippi of the Southern League.
The 31st annual gathering of the classification’s top stars will take place at Huntington Park in downtown Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, July 11 at 7:00 EDT. The Huntington Bank Triple-A All-Star Game presented by Gildan will be broadcast live on MiLB.TV and the Triple-A All-Star Game Radio Network on July 11 and will be broadcast on MLB Network on July 18. All-Star festivities in Columbus begin with the Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby and Skills Competition on Monday, July 9.
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