Aeros left fielder Nick Weglarz was named Eastern League Player of the Week today for the week ending May 17th. He became the first Akron player this season to win a weekly honor, as the Aeros are off to their best start in franchise history and own the best record in professional baseball at 27-8.

Weglarz hit .458 (11-24) last week with three doubles, a home run, six runs scored and was tied for second in the league with eight RBI. He had a pair of two-hit games during Sunday’s doubleheader against Altoona, and now has nine multi-hit outings on the season. He also was the hero Friday night for Akron as his three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning at Altoona was the deciding factor in a 5-3 victory.

He has been sensational for the past month after starting the season 3-48 at the dish, and the 21-year-old has led the team in nearly every single statistical category in 14 games played during the month of May. His 20 hits, six doubles, 10 walks, and an on-base percentage of .544, slugging percentage of .778, and 20 RBI are all Aeros highs and he now leads the club with 26 RBI on the season.

Overall, Weglarz currently is tied for fifth in the Eastern League in RBI, tied for sixth in walks (20) and tied for seventh in runs scored (21). Cleveland’s 3rd-round selection in the 2005 draft, he was rated as the #3 prospect in the entire organization by Baseball America prior to the 2009 season. The publication also rated him as the prospect with the best strike-zone discipline, and that has been very visible recently as he had seven walks and only three strikeouts during the last week.

The Canadian native and 2008 Olympian has been a true catalyst for the hot Akron start, as the team is 21-3 in games where he starts in left field and 19-3 when he bats sixth in the lineup. He had a five-game hitting streak snapped in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader, but has an 11-game on-base streak that remains intact, tied for the second longest streak for an Aero this season.

The Aeros are off today and then kick off a three-game series in Trenton against the defending Eastern League champions Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. The series will be a rematch of the last two EL Finals and the Aeros will send Josh Tomlin (4-1, 3.82 ERA) against Thunder left-hander Wilkin de la Rosa (1-0, 2.45 ERA). The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at (330) 253-5151.