Atlanta Braves Minor League Awards: Ben’s Choices!!

Atlanta Braves Minor League Season Awards

As we finished up the season wrap up series yesterday, I thought it a good time to reveal my choices for minor league awards across the system this year. To start with, this is based on personal viewing along with quite a bit of sourced scouting reports from folks I’ve chatted with. First, a number of scheduling comments. You’ve likely noticed that I’ve had a couple of scouting reports per week since the season ended. I’ll have two more this week after having Joey Meneses two days ago. You’ll have at least 2 scouting reports per week through the offseason, and I’ll be sure to highlight any acquisitions that the team makes as well.

We’ll start with the organization’s statistical leaders in the minors, minimum 100 AB or 25 IP to qualify for rate leaders.

• AVG: Braulio Vasquez .333, Brandon Snyder .327, Ronald Acuna .312, Cristian Pache .309, Reilys Blanco .307
• OBP: Braulio Vasquez .416, Ronald Acuna .392, Ray-Patrick Didder .387, Travis Demeritte .384, Yoeli Lopez .382
• SLG: Carlos Castro .508, Matt Tuiasosopo .483, Austin Riley .479, Travis Demeritte .476, Mel Rojas .445
• R: Ray-Patrick Didder 95, Ozzie Albies 83, Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson 68, Keith Curcio 67
• 2B: Austin Riley 39, Dustin Peterson 38, Ozzie Albies 33, Keith Curcio 29, Joey Meneses 28
• 3B: Ozzie Albies 10, Ray-Patrick Didder 9, Keith Curcio, Justin Ellison, and Matt Lipka 8
• HR: Austin Riley 20, Carlos Castro 17, Mel Rojas, Dustin Peterson, and Jake Schrader 12
• RBI: Dustin Peterson 88, Austin Riley 80, Braxton Davidson 63, Rio Ruiz 62, Carlos Castro 57
• SB: Emilio Bonifacio and Ray-Patrick Didder 37, Ozzie Albies 30, Keith Curcio 24, Justin Ellison and Stephen Gaylor 18

• G: Madison Younginer 46, David Peterson 45, Steve Janas and Bradley Roney 44, Three with 43
• IP: Max Povse 158, Patrick Weigel 149.2, Chris Ellis 146.1, Enderson Franco 144, Mike Soroka 143
• W: Chris Ellis 12, Patrick Weigel 11, Tyrell Jenkins, Max Povse, Mike Soroka, and Matt Withrow 9
• SV: Madison Younginer 15, David Peterson, Evan Phillips, and Chase Johnson-Mullins 10, Devan Watts 9
• K: Lucas Sims 159, Patrick Weigel and Sean Newcomb 152, Max Povse 139, Matt Withrow 131
• ERA: Kyle Muller 0.65, Bryse Wilson 0.68, Caleb Dirks 0.91, Corbin Clouse 1.19, A.J. Minter 1.30
• WHIP: Trevor Belicek 0.81, A.J. Minter 0.84, Bryse Wilson 0.90, Corbin Clouse 0.92, Kyle Muller 0.94
• K/BB: Trevor Belicek 32.00, Tucker Davidson 8.00, Jon Kennedy 7.25, Kelvin Rodriguez 5.50, Rob Wooten 5.45
• K/9: Corbin Clouse 15.7, Carlos Salazar 12.7, Akeel Morris 12.6, Kyle Muller 12.4, A.J. Minter 12.2

Next: Selected Awards

Player of the Day/Week/Month Award Leaders

Every day on Twitter, I announced a hitter and a pitcher of the day. In my Monday minors wrap, I announced a hitter and pitcher of the week. Last, in my monthly standout posts, I named a player and pitcher of the month. Let’s look at the winners for the year:

Player/Pitcher of the Day

I awarded 62 different players the hitter of the day mention on Twitter this season, including multiple guys on rehab and guys that finished the season in another organization, but probably the most unique was on May 15th when pitcher Chris Ellis won the mention due to his 3-for-3 day with 2 doubles, a run, and an RBI.

As far as leaders, two hitters tied for the most mentions on the season, Dustin Peterson and Keith Curcio with 9. Ray-Patrick Didder and Dansby Swanson were right behind with 8 and Joey Meneses and Rio Ruiz each had 7. Thirty-four total hitters had multiple mentions on the season.

Fifty-one pitchers were awarded the pitcher of the day with the most unique selection likely being Blake Lalli, who on June 21st picked up the win in a 12-inning game for Gwinnett against Indianapolis.

I chose 31 pitchers multiple times on the season. Three pitchers tied for the daily mention lead – Sean Newcomb, Patrick Weigel, and Rob Whalen – with 10 each. Mike Soroka was next behind with 9 mentions. Max Fried and Max Povse had 8 apiece.

Player/Pitcher of the Week

Every Monday, I put out a recap of the games from Thursday through Sunday and included weekly awards. Over the 24 weeks of the season, I gave the weekly award to 19 different hitters, leaving not many duplicates. Joey Meneses had the most player of the week mentions with 3. Dustin Peterson, Rio Ruiz, and Brandon Snyder each had two weekly mentions, with Snyder and Ruiz each winning both of theirs in back-to-back weeks.

Pitchers were a little more clumped together as there were only 16 pitchers selected over the 24 weeks. Rob Whalen led all pitchers with 3 pitcher of the week mentions. Six pitchers had two mentions – Kolby Allard, Brandon Barker, Chris Ellis, Max Fried, Sean Newcomb, and Max Povse.

Player/Pitcher of the Month

Over the six months of the season, I selected six hitters. Dansby Swanson was the selection for April, Brandon Snyder for May, Joey Meneses for June, Mel Rojas for July, Austin Riley for August, and Sean Kazmar for September.

With pitchers, I had five pitchers selected over the six months. Lucas Sims was the April selection, Robert Whalen in May, Max Fried in June and September both, A.J. Minter in July, and Matt Withrow in August.

Next: All Star Team

Minor League Team of the Year

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• Catcher – Joseph Odom, .278/.327/.431, 9 HR. Odom hit extremely well for Carolina after work on his swing at the Arizona Fall League really took hold this year. He shuffled with infrequent at bats in Mississippi, but he’s a guy who plays high-end defense along with flashing big power. If he can hit .270 with the 15-20 home run level power with the defense he plays, he’ll be a major league starter for a long time. Honorable mention: William Contreras was part of a four-catcher rotation at times in GCL, which made it hard to get in rhythm, but he showed elite defensive skills along with solid offense, especially with his excellent eye (.346 OBP).
• First Base – Carlos Castro, .266/.301/.508/.809, 4 triples, 17 HR, 5 SB. Castro was a guy who came into the year with a history of excellent contact hitting and made an adjustment to hit for more power, and it was well-done. He struggled with an early bout of BABIP issues. From August 1st on, Castro hit .330/.353/.571/.925 with 5 home runs as his BABIP turned the other direction. I think the overall season line is not far off what to think with Castro, but that’s a very legit power source. Honorable mention: Joey Meneses had an excellent season between first and outfield but just turned it on at AA a bit too late to affect his numbers enough to move past Castro.
• Second Base – Ozzie Albies, .292/.358/.420, 49 XBH, 30 SB. Albies went nuts in Mississippi before being promoted to Gwinnett. After struggling for a bit with the G-Braves, Albies was moved to second base, and his bat picked up. He was moved back down to Mississippi to play alongside future double play partner Dansby Swanson. His broken elbow at the end of the season will put some question into the start of his 2017, very possibly meaning that we don’t see Albies take over the 2B job until late summer. Honorable mention: Luke Dykstra was leading the entire organization in hitting when an injury cut his season short. He showed the same gritty, high-baseball-smarts sort of play that endeared him to me last fall when I was notably higher on him than most, and if he can do that and also hit .300, he’ll have a long career in a major league clubhouse.
• Third Base – Austin Riley, .271/.324/.479, 39 doubles, 20 HR. While many complain about this position and in the end, the choice is not difficult at all, the position has much more depth than it did even a year ago. Riley led the organization in doubles and home runs, flashing all kinds of power from mid-June until the end of the season. However, this may be the last season we see Riley eligible for a list like this at third base, as his defense has taken major steps backward, and the team could look to move him as soon as next year to another position. Honorable Mention: Rio Ruiz took the offseason to really work on his conditioning and continue the positive work on his swing that started in August of 2015, and the results showed as his defense could even be considered above-average to “plus” at this point. Now, this offseason he can work on hitting lefties, his biggest bugaboo of 2016.
• Shortstop – Dansby Swanson, .275/.362/.426, 25 doubles, 9 HR, 13 SB. Swanson shot up from Carolina to Mississippi before May 1st, but he shuffled in his time in Mississippi at times. He obviously flashed enough to earn his call to the majors, and he’s very possibly going to end up no longer being eligible as a rookie next season. Honorable Mention: Braulio Vasquez was signed on July 2nd, but since he was already 17, he was allowed to play immediately, and he showed very well in extended time in DSL. He did not show a ton of power, but the scattered reports I’ve received so far really, really like this kid.
• Outfield – Ray-Patrick Didder, .274/.387/.381, 95 R, 9 triples, 37 SB. Didder was the constant presence at the top of the loaded Rome lineup all season, showing excellent skills in the leadoff spot and establishing himself as quite possibly the best outfield defender in the entire Braves system. Honorable Mention: Ronald Acuna was on his way to a huge season before he hurt his thumb. He shuffled upon his return, but the future is very, very bright with this guy.
• Outfield – Keith Curcio, .271/.352/.389, 29 doubles, 8 triples, 24 SB. Curcio is a guy who is criminally underrated by many, including me in my midseason list. Curcio plays elite defense and showed last season flexibility in moving to second base and handling the position well. He has a solid eye and contact skills, yet his bat is not without power, it’s just of the gap variety. The package may still end up as a 4th outfielder, but he’s overachieved all the way so far, so who’s to say he couldn’t keep proving us all wrong? Honorable Mention: Cristian Pache is only 17, but he could be a guy making a strong argument for the top 10 in team prospect lists once scouting reports on him get out. He showed incredible defense, exceptional speed and bat control, and surprising power in the bat.
• Outfield – Dustin Peterson, .282/.343/.431, 38 doubles, 12 HR, 88 RBI. Peterson was in the midst of a tremendous season last year when the Carolina bus crash derailed his season. He struggled the rest of 2015, but he got back on track in AA in 2016. He plays exceptional defense along with flashing a legit power bat and good eye at the plate.Honorable Mention: Emilio Bonifacio may not have been the guy that many fans wanted to see the team bring back in the spring, but he ended up playing very well for Gwinnett on the season, tying for the regular season stolen base lead in the system.
• Starting Pitcher – Robert Whalen, 21 G, 120 IP, 2.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 44/112 BB/K. Whalen had knee surgery over the offseason, and he stated that this was his first healthy season of his career, and he showed with an incredibly impressive performance. Whalen was running on fumes by the time he got to the majors, but he’s an incredibly intelligent pitcher on the mound and could factor into the Atlanta rotation for 2017. Honorable Mention: Matt Withrow was incredible in his velocity and movement and as the season wore on, his command really became more and more sharp. He could be a guy who really leaps forward in 2017.
• Starting Pitcher – Patrick Weigel, 25 G, 149 2/3 IP, 2.47 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 55/152 BB/K. Weigel jumped up the system in 2016 with an incredible performance in Rome before moving to Mississippi and really throwing well to finish his season. Weigel is a high-velocity guy, but his real key this year was how well his curve and slider both played this year. Honorable Mention: Touki Toussaint was sporting an ERA that looked more like a K/9 rate at the end of April, but he was working with the team to build on his fastball/change, using his tremendous curve as a third pitch rather than a primary, and from June 1st forward, Toussaint posted a 2.72 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.
• Starting Pitcher – Sean Newcomb, 27 G, 140 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 71/152 BB/K. Newcomb worked through the season on pounding the low part of the zone early in the count to get weak swings on his hard breaking stuff later in the count, and the results just kept getting better as the year went on. Honorable Mention: Mike Soroka will be argued as a guy who should be in the starting rotation of this team, but it is not a knock on him by any means that he doesn’t make it. He handled second and third time through the league well this year with some expected run allowed increases and home run rate and strikeout rate corrections.
• Starting Pitcher – Max Povse, 26 G, 158 IP, 3.36 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 29/139 BB/K. Povse started out on fire with Carolina, and after a bit of issue in the middle of the year, he finished strong in Mississippi as well. Povse long legs and arms due to his 6’8 height will always make repeating his delivery an issue, but he did exceptionally well in repeating this year, and if he can do that, his exceptional control will play to the big league level.Honorable Mention: Max Fried struggled in April, but he picked things up midseason and by the end of the year, he was Rome’s starter in both clinching games of the playoffs, striking out 10+ in his last four starts of the season.
• Starting Pitcher – Kolby Allard, 16 G, 87 2/3 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 25/95 BB/K. After really good instructs in 2015, the team wanted to give Allard extended spring and then having him work right to Rome, but he struggled with that much of a jump in competition after only throwing 6 innings in the GCL. Allard went down to Danville and began dominating before coming back to Rome and pitching very well. He may return to Rome in 2017 through no fault of his own, but his performance certainly puts him on the radar for top 50 prospects in all of baseball.Honorable Mention: Jed Bradley was picked up for cash from the Brewers, and the Georgia Tech grad and former first-round pick showed his high pedigree in excellent performance in AA and AAA before finally getting the big league call in September.
• Right-Handed Relief Pitcher – Caleb Dirks, 21 G, 29 2/3 IP, 0.91 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 11/32 BB/K. Acquired midseason in the Bud Norris deal after the Braves traded him away in 2015, Dirks proved to be a dominant force for Mississippi once he was acquired and could be on the fast track to the big leagues in 2017. Honorable Mention: Carlos Salazar was in his second season in the bullpen in 2016, and he made huge strides in getting to his top-end velocity. Now if he can get the command with it that he flashed in 2015, he could be excellent in the back end of the bullpen.
• Right-Handed Relief Pitcher – Taylor Lewis, 41 G, 66 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14/63 BB/K. Drafted out of the University of Florida in 2015, Lewis has been an excellent reliever for the Braves ever since, and he sported a streak without allowing an earned run from May 20th to July 17th. Honorable Mention: Chad Sobotka made the transition to the bullpen full time this season, and his stuff was just wicked out of the pen. At 6’7 with his raw stuff, he could be a major intimidator out of the pen.
• Left-Handed Relief Pitcher – Corbin Clouse, 19 G, 30 1/3 IP, 1.19 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 15/53 BB/K. Clouse was drafted this season, and he pitched so well that many considered him to be the best lefty reliever in the entire system in 2016, even over Minter. His stuff isn’t 100 MPH, but he throws with some deception and a ton of break that makes it very tough for hitters to get good wood on his pitches. Honorable Mention: Chase Johnson-Mullins faced a disciplinary suspension in season that caused him to be demoted from Carolina to Rome thereafter, but his performance on the field was consistently dominating from the 6’8, 300(ish) pound lefty.
• Left-Handed Relief Pitcher – A.J. Minter, 31 G, 34 2/3 IP, 1.30 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 11/47 BB/K. As I started figuring on the pitcher of the year discussion, I honestly considered Minter for a long time before I was just overwhelmed the the number of good starters in the system. Minter has great stuff and could make the move back to the rotation next season, but he’d be a legit MLB option out of the bullpen if he stays in relief.Honorable Mention: Steve Kent was originally signed out of Australia by the Braves, and he returned to his native country for a number of seasons before coming back this year, and he threw very well in Mississippi. He could play very well as a LOOGY.

Next: Player and Pitcher of the Year