PORTLAND, ME — Richmond Flying Squirrels’ first baseman Jerry Sands (Catawba) has been selected as the Eastern League Player of the Week for the period of July 2nd-July 8th.

Sands, 30, hit .429 (9-for-21) with five doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, six runs scored, two walks, and a .952 slugging percentage in six games last week. Sands, who hit 61 homers at Catawba in three seasons (2006-2008), reached base at least once in all six games he played in last week and had at least one extra-base hit in five of those games.

Sands’ great week included a pair of games in which he came a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs in a 7-6 loss at Harrisburg on July 3rd and going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in a 6-2 win against Akron on Saturday night.

The 6’4″, 225 lb. slugger led all Eastern League hitters in extra-base hits (7), doubles (5), slugging percentage (.952), and OPS (1.431) last week. He also finished ranked among the weekly league leaders in total bases (20-2nd), home runs (2-tied 3rd), batting average (.429-5th), on-base percentage (.478-9th), and runs scored (6-tied 9th).

Sands was signed by the San Francisco Giants as a minor league free agent on June 3, 2017. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2008 draft and has played in MLB games with the Dodgers, Indians, White Sox and Rays.

Sands grew up in Clayton, N.C., and lives in the Raleigh area during the offseason.