Minor League Awards (2012)

2012 Minor League Standouts:  

Best Hitter-- OF Wil Myers (Kansas City Royals) 

*.308 Batting Average, 36 home runs, 105 RBI between (AA) and (AAA). Eclipsed his previous career high for home runs (14) in the first half of the season. Aside from last season (.254/8/49), Myers has been a consistent .300+ hitter in the minors with well above-average pop. Likely will get a stop in Kansas City during September call-ups.


Best Pitcher: RHP Jose Fernandez (Florida Marlins)

*Glided through low (A) with a 7-0 record and 1.59 ERA before getting the bump to high (A) Jupiter. Little adjustment was needed as Fernandez finished 7-1 with a 1.96 ERA at Jupiter to finish the season.  Cuban defector who was chosen in the first-round of the 2011 MLB draft has as much upside as anyone on the hill in the minors. In 134 minor league innings, Fernandez went a combined 14-1 with an ERA of 1.75. Equally impressive was his 158 strikeouts while managing to allow just 89 hits.


Biggest Surprise-- 3B Matthew Skole (Washington Nationals)

*.288 AVG, 27 home runs, 103 RBI between two levels of (A) ball. Also added 11 steals in 11 attempts. Slugged .558 with an OPS of .983. Hit 47 home runs in three seasons at Georgia Tech. Fifth-round pick by the Nationals in the 2011 draft.

Best Underdog Story--1B Darin Ruf (Philadelphia Phillies)

*.321 AVG, 38 home runs, 103 RBI in (AA). Finished with a  slugging of .632  and an OPS of 1.045--both led the minor leagues. Former 20th round draft pick out of Creighton, where he was the Missori Valley Conference player of the year.

Best Baserunner--SS Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati Reds)

*Broke Vince Coleman's minor league record for stolen bases with more than a week to go in the season. Swiped 154 bases between (A) and (AA) while managing to hit .313. On-base percentage above .400 at both levels.