Walbert Ureña named Southern League Pitcher of the Week

MADISON, Ala. – Minor League Baseball announced today that Rocket City Trash Pandas starter Walbert Ureña has been named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week.

Ureña delivered the best start of his career on Saturday, September 13 at Toyota Field, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning and allowing just one hit over 8.0 dominant frames to lead the Trash Pandas to a 2-1 victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Making his league-leading and franchise-record 27th start, Ureña closed his season with his 11th quality start, tying for the Southern League lead. The 21-year-old right-hander set a new career high with 8.0 innings, striking out eight without a walk. He didn’t surrender a hit until Ethan O’Donnell’s leadoff double in the eighth. Of his 24 recorded outs, 23 came via strikeout or groundout.

Over his final five starts of 2025, Ureña went 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA, striking out 31 while issuing 11 walks in 32.1 innings. He finished the season among the Southern League leaders in multiple categories:

• Starts – T-1st (27)
• Quality Starts – T-1st (11)
• Innings Pitched – 1st (135.1)
• Opponent Batting Average – 10th (.231)
• Strikeouts – 9th (115)

Ureña becomes the third Trash Panda this season to earn a weekly league honor, joining infielders Denzer Guzmán and Sam Brown, and the first Pitcher to do so in 2025. He’s the first Rocket City pitcher to win since George Klassen, exactly one year ago on September 15, 2024.

This also marks the third Pitcher of the Week award of Ureña’s career, following California League honors with Single-A Inland Empire (August 27, 2023) and the ACL Angels (July 3, 2022).

The Trash Pandas wrapped up their 2025 season on Sunday with a 6-3 loss to Chattanooga. Rocket City will open its sixth season on Friday, April 3, 2026, at Toyota Field against the Biloxi Shuckers to begin a three-game weekend series.

To keep up with all things Rocket City Trash Pandas in the offseason, please visit trashpandasbaseball.com.