The Southern League and Minor League Baseball have announced that Chattanooga Lookouts second baseman Tyler Callihan has been named the Player of the Week.
It was an interesting week for Chattanooga and Tyler Callihan. Usually a series is six games over six days, but thanks to a postponement in an earlier series between Chattanooga and Tennessee, the Lookouts played a 7-game series. But they also got postponed once this week and it meant the Smokies and Lookouts played two different doubleheaders last week.
Tyler Callihan hit .429/.519/.810 in the seven games during the series. That came with two doubles, two home runs, five runs scored, five runs batted in, and three stolen bases. He also walked four times and was hit by a pitch.
TYLER CALLIHAN RAKESSSS! pic.twitter.com/mBwRSYObGO
— Chattanooga Lookouts (@ChattLookouts) May 8, 2024
What’s interesting is that all nine of his hits came in the first four games he played. He went 0-2 in each of the last three games of the series – though he walked twice in the final two games.
Callihan was promoted to Double-A for the final month last season and hit well after struggling at times in High-A Dayton. Over 24 games at the end of the season with Chattanooga he hit .295/.376/.432 in 109 plate appearances. He returned to the Southern League to start this year and got out to a tough start, hitting .160/.192/.280 in April with three walks and 28 strikeouts in 80 plate appearances. In May his walk rate has doubled and he’s walked nearly as often as he’s struck out (seven walks, eight strikeouts) and is hitting .324/.442/.559 through the first 11 games of the month.
Tyler Callihan wasn’t the only Cincinnati Reds prospect to garner Player of the Week honors this week. Carson Spiers also got the nod in the International League. I will have a write up about him tomorrow so that way no one gets their recognition buried.
Here are the other Cincinnati Reds players to win a Player of the Week Award in 2024:
| Player | League | Time Frame |
| Ricardo Cabrera | Florida State League | April 15-21 |
| Rhett Lowder | Midwest League | April 22-28 |
| Carson Spiers | International League | May 6-12 |
| Tyler Callihan | Southern League | May 6-12 |
After such an uneven path so far in his career for Callihan, getting a ML player out of his development, even if for trade chip, would be a success story. His swing is certain;y built for GABP. His defense seems better than is has been, so I can see him backing up McLain at 2B, maybe playing a little 1B, if things break right for him.
Looks like the talent is finally leading to performance. I would think if they can get the bat started they need to think about a position change for him. Not that he is not adequate at second but the middle and corner infield depth chart is deep.
This is far more likely just a blip. His overall stats are still bad. No need to worry about position changes yet.