Daily Baseball Update: Minor League Awards

The next wave of great baseball players lies in the minor leagues, and many excelled this year.  I will give out my awards, though these awards don't exist, for Hitter, Pitcher, and Team of the Year.  Honorable mentions will also earn their own sections.

Minor League Hitter of the Year
Zach Borenstein (Angels High Class A): 28 HR, 95 RBI, .337 AVG, 5 SB.
It was hard to decide, but I've ultimately made the Angels' Zach Borenstein the hitter of the year.  The former 23rd round pick out of the Chicago area has improved each season in the minor leagues and had the best year at the plate in all of professional baseball under the big leagues.  In just 112 games for High Class A Inland Empire (San Bernardino), he hit 28 home runs, drove in 95, and batted .337.  Adding 22 doubles and seven triples, he managed to slug .631.  The 23 year old bashed right handed pitching to 26 home runs in 293 at bats while batting .345 and slugging an incredible .710.  His best month came in July, where he hit five home runs and batted .438 in 18 games, reaching base more than half of the time.  His hitting lead the 66ers to a second place finish in the California League Southern division, as they went 69-71.

Runner Up
Chris Colabello (Twins AAA): 24 HR, 76 RBI, .352 AVG, 2 SB.
Despite playing in only 89 games, Chris Colabello managed to play as well as anybody in the minor leagues.  In a little over half a season for AAA Rochester, Colabello hit 24 home runs and batted .352.  Colabello, who grew up in Italy, took an interesting path to the major leagues.  He moved back to Massachusetts for high school, attended Assumption College in Worcester, and went undrafted.  After playing seven seasons in the independent Can-Am League, he got a call from the Minnesota Twins.  In 2012, at 29 years old, he made his minor league debut.  He posted as successful season at AA New Britain, and was called up to AAA Rochester for the 2013 season.  It was there that he caught fire.  From May through June, he posted possibly the best numbers in all of baseball, hitting 14 home runs, driving in 46, and batting .391 in just 45 games.  His incredible season gave the Red Wings a 77-67 record, missing out on the International League North division championship by three and a half games, falling just behind the Pawtucket Red Sox.  The Twins called Colabello up and gave him 55 games, where he managed seven home runs and batted .194.  Combining AAA and major league stats, he hit 31 home runs, drove in 93, and batted .301 in 144 games.

Honorable Mention
Byron Buxton (Twins Class A and High Class A): 12 HR, 77 RBI, .334 AVG, 55 SB.
The Twins had two prospects post great seasons in 2013.  Buxton, the second overall pick behind Carlos Correa in the 2012 draft, played his first full season this year.  Starting off at Class A Cedar Rapids, he hit .341 with eight home runs and 32 stolen bases in 68 games to prompt a promotion.  He didn't slow down at High Class A Fort Myers, batting .326 with four home runs and 23 stolen bases in 57 games.  Aside from his 12 total home runs, he also knocked 18 triples.  He also stole 55 bases, showing five tool skills, including his superb defense.  Despite in just 68 games at Class A, he won the Midwest League MVP, as Cedar Rapids went 88-50 and posted the best record in all of Class A.  His second half team, the Fort Myers Miracle, went 79-56, which was the best record in the Florida State League South division.  

Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Erik Johnson (White Sox AA and AAA): 12-3, 1.96 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 131 K's.
The White Sox' Erik Johnson was un-hittable from the get-go in 2013.   The Cal-Berkeley alumnus has been pitching great his whole career, going 21-10 with a 2.31 ERA in 48 games (46 starts) across all minor and major league levels.  Last year, he was 6-5 with a 2.53 ERA for Class A Kannapolis and High Class A Winston-Salem, but he stepped it up this year.  Starting out with AA Birmingham, he dominated the Southern League, going 8-2 with a 2.23 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 14 starts.  This led the Barons to a 44-26 first half record, enough to easily claim the Southern League North division first half championship.  In the second half, when he was no longer with the team, they were just 33-37.  He was promoted to AAA Charlotte, where he still did not have any issues.   The 23 year old went 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA, paving the way for a major league promotion.  Part of the September call-up package, he went 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA against major league hitting, including a performance of six shutout innings against the Twins.  Major and minor leagues included, he was 15-5 with a 2.17 ERA in 29 starts.

Runner Up
Archie Bradley (Diamondbacks High Class A and AA): 14-5, 1.84 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 162 K's.
At first glance, it looks like Bradley should be the pitcher of the year.  He topped Johnson in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, the triple crown stats.  However, what really separated them was the number of walks issued by Bradley.  He walked 69 batters in 152 innings, which is more than four per nine innings.  Johnson walked 40 batters in 142 innings, which is just over two and a half per nine innings.  As we well know, walks are huge for developing players as they try to gain the control that will win them MLB jobs.  Remember, if you can throw 100 but can't hit the glove, you won't be in the major leagues.  Bradley throws upper nineties, but he has to cut his walks.  Aside from that aspect, there is no denying that he had an incredible season.  He started out with High Class A Visalia, but after just five starts, he was promoted.  He was 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA while striking out 43 batters in 28.2 innings.  Upon arriving at AA Mobile, he just continued his dominance, going 12-5 with a 1.97 ERA in 21 starts.  The BayBears won the Southern League South division with a 79-60 record.  However, at Mobile, Bradley's walk issues caught up with him, as he walked 59 in 123.1 innings.  Overall, he was 14-5 with a 1.84 ERA and struck out 162 batters in 152 innings.  He was actually un-hittable in the month of May, going 4-1 with a 0.79 ERA in the first six starts after his promotion.

Honorable Mention
Kyle Hendricks (Cubs AA and AAA): 13-4, 2.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 128 K's.
The former eighth round pick really made a name for himself in 2013.  After a strong 2012 where he went 6-8 with a 2.99 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) for Class A and High Class A, the Cubs started him off at AA Tennessee.  In Knoxville, he went 10-3 with a 1.85 ERA and struck out 107 batters in 126.1 innings.  This helped the Smokies to a 76-62 record, good for first in the Southern League North division.  The Cubs promoted the 23 year old Dartmouth alumnus to AAA Iowa, where he was 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in six starts.  His best game for Des Moines came on August 23rd, when he shut down the Memphis RedBirds for seven innings, allowing just four hits and one walk in a scoreless start.  Don't be surprised if he is in the majors early next season.

Minor League Team of the Year
GCL Nationals (Nationals GCL affiliate): 49-9 record, first in Gulf Coast League East.
Including the playoffs, the GCL Nationals went 52-9 in 2013, posting the best record ever for a United States-based minor league baseball team.  To say they easily won the Gulf Coast League East division would be an understatement; they won it by 24.5 games.  To put that in perspective, the perpetually losing Cubs finished 24 games out of the NL Central this season.  That took 162 games.  The GCL Nats built a 24.5 game lead over the second place GCL Marlins in just 58 games.  They built a team ERA of 2.45, led by Hector Silvestre (7-0, 1.82 ERA), Wander Suero (8-1, 1.65 ERA), Phillips Valdez (3-0, 1.95 ERA) and Kelvin Rodriguez (5-0, 3.07 ERA).  Closer Jake Walsh recorded eight saves while posting a 1.40 ERA and 0.78 WHIP.   They were just as dominant on offense.  The team batted .281, which was first in the GCL by a huge margin; the GCL Tigers finished in second with a .257 average.  Randy Encarnacion led the offensive attack, batting .342 with three home runs in 34 games.  Rafael Bautista batted .322 with 26 stolen bases and 44 runs scored in 52 games.  Diomedes Eusebio, owner of one of the best names in baseball, batted .330 with a pair of home runs in 36 games.

Runner Up
Durham Bulls (Rays AAA affiliate): 87-57 record, first in International League South.
The Bulls went 87-57 this year, posting a .604 winning percentage and winning the International League South division by ten games.  In fact, they had the best record in all of AAA.  The team batted .267, best in the International League, led by Leslie Anderson (14 HR, 74 RBI, .292 AVG), Wil Myers (14 HR, 57 RBI, .286 AVG), and Vince Belnome (8 HR, 67 RBI, .300 AVG).  Such high profile hitters as Wil Myers, Brandon Guyer, and Tim Beckham started for the Bulls.  On the other side of the ball, the Bulls posted the best ERA in the IL at 3.33.  J.D. Martin was easily the team's MVP, going 14-5 with a 2.75 ERA in 27 starts.  Jake Odorizzi was 9-6 with a 3.33 ERA, and closers Kirby Yates and Josh Lueke combined for 37 saves and a 1.29 ERA in 91 appearances.  The team had it's share of top prospect pitchers in Odorizzi, Chris Archer, and Mike Montgomery.  Despite the regular season success, Durham lost to the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) in the AAA finals.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman