Minor League Baseball Awards for April 2019

Each month, I’m going to put out my pick for the top hitter and top pitcher at each level. Of course, for April and May that will only include full-season levels, but we will add in others as they begin to play after the draft!

A quick explanation before we get into this is appropriate. Some guys will not be the top prospect performing well at a level. Some guys will not be the player with the absolute best statistics subjectively at a level. What I try to do is combine both aspects to some degree in choosing who will be highlighted. Also, while there are likely dozens of potential players that would make excellent “Runners Up” mentions, each one is intentionally chosen due to their performance or prospect status, so take note!

We’ll look at each level’s top hitter and pitcher, minor league statistical leaders, and then finish with an overall top hitter and pitcher in all of minor league baseball.

AAA

Hitter: Yordan Alvarez, OF, Round Rock (Astros)

Potentially my favorite “underrated” prospect, the Astros may soon have a new top prospect, surpassing two guys I had in my top 10 to open the season. Alvarez certainly is benefitting from the new ball in AAA, as are many, but even then, he’s putting up absolute ridiculous statistics. He has a .347/.443/.867 line over 88 plate appearances, while tying for the AAA lead in home runs with 11 and keeping his plate discipline very impressive. Even though he’s listed at 6’5″ and 225 pounds – and he’s every bit of that – he is very athletic, able to handle the outfield very well. His performance very well could lead to the Astros being more comfortable dangling teammate Kyle Tucker in trade talks this summer.

Runners Up: Kevin Cron, Ty France, Josh VanMeter

Pitcher: Zac Gallen, RHP, New Orleans (Marlins)

When the Marlins tore down after the 2017 season and traded away arguably the most-talented outfield in the game, they were criticized for a lack of performance in 2018 from the return in those deals. Gallen has not been someone who should be a complaint. The 2016 3rd round selection of the Cardinals has been tremendous in his repeat of AAA, leading all of AAA in WHIP and K/BB as he’s posted a 0.81 ERA through 33 1/3 innings in the first month with a 5/38 BB/K ratio.

Runners Up: Tyler Beede, Hector Noesi, Burch Smith

AA

Hitter: Jorge Ona, OF, Amarillo (Padres)

Part of the huge 2016 international signing class of the Padres, Ona was incredibly hyped as a signee, with exceptional raw tools coming out of Cuba. He’s been solid but not spectacular in his first two full seasons in the Padres system, but he’s definitely come out strong in his third year in the system, just in time to re-assert himself among a very talented group of prospects in the best farm system in baseball. Ona has slashed .367/.441/.582 with 5 home runs and 2 stolen bases.

Runners Up: Joel Booker, Cristian Pache, Zach Reks, Ben Ruta, Rhett Wiseman

Pitcher: Devin Smeltzer, LHP, Pensacola (Twins)

Moving long-time star Brian Dozier last summer was tough for many Twins fans to swallow, and the return may not have blown them away, but after new MLB pitching coach Wes Johnson got his hands on Smeltzer for just a glimpse this spring, Smeltzer has seen his fastball bump up to a consistent 90-92, touching 95-96, and, more importantly, he has seen his secondary offerings bump up significantly in spin rate. He’s continued to utilize his plus command and control to carve through AA lineups, and the 2016 5th rounder of the Dodgers will likely be bumped up soon to AAA if he keeps this up, and he could have a future in the back of a rotation for quite a while with this repertoire from the left side.

Runners Up: Rico Garcia, Griffin Jax, Matt Manning, Zach Plesac, Ramon Rosso, Ricardo Sanchez

High-A

Hitter: Luis Robert, OF, Winston-Salem (White Sox)

Please take note of the players in the “Runners Up” section here. Of the 4 mentioned, 3 would make the top 10 overall hitters in the minors in April. The issue is that they’re all at the same level as Robert, who, like Ona, is fulfilling the massive hype that followed him from Cuba. Robert’s season has become nearly a joke, as tweeting from a Winston-Salem game has become half reporting on the game, and half reporting on Robert. His line explains exactly why, as he’s slashing .453/.512/.920 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, and 8 stolen bases. Talk about filling up a stat sheet!

Runners Up: Jarren Duran, Steven Kwan, Luis Liberato, Justin Toerner

Pitcher: Ljay Newsome, RHP, Modesto (Mariners)

If you’re going to beat out arguably the best pitcher in the 2017 draft and the top overall selection in the 2018 draft, you have to do something special. After working in the offseason with a training program, Newsome has seen his velocity tick up from the upper-80s to 92-94 consistently, touching 96. He has mixed pitches very well and led all of the minor leagues in the first month in strikeouts as well as innings pitched, and there are multiple pitchers who also had 6 starts, but none exceeded his innings total.

Runners Up: Cody Bolton, MacKenzie Gore, Casey Mize, Eli Morgan, Bailey Ober

Low-A

Hitter: Sam Huff, C, Hickory (Rangers)

There is a catching renaissance going on the minor leagues right now, with commonly 7 or more catchers in top 100 lists, which is tremendously high compared to recent history. Huff is a catcher mostly in name only, as he’s put in more time at DH this year than catcher, but in a repeat of low-A in a hitter-friendly environment, Huff has the minor league baseball lead in home runs. He’s still not showing a lot in plate discipline, but in a class of low-A hitters that have shown excellent depth in their stat lines, Huff’s .825 slugging and 12 home runs are two huge standout numbers.

Runners Up: Alec Bohm, Xavier Edwards, Jerar Encarnacion, Adam Hall, Trey Harris, Jarred Kelenic, Terrin Vavra

Pitcher: Ofelky Peralta, RHP, Delmarva (Orioles)

If there is any sign of the excellent change in development that’s the Baltimore Orioles have gone through since John Wasdin took over as minor league pitching coordinator in 2017 (before being promoted to the big league club this year). Peralta was a guy with a big bonus out of the Dominican Republic based on his 6’5″, lanky frame, but he got hit by the aggressive pushing of arms that the previous Orioles pitching development was notorious for, as he was moved to Delmarva in 2016 at 19. That led to two seasons with very poor numbers at the high-A level. Brought back to Delmarva this season, Peralta has moved from a fastball-only guy with nearly no control to featuring a mid-90s fastball that really has incredible spin up in the zone and plane low in the zone as he’s worked on his mechanics. He has shown much better control of his secondaries this year, with a 5/31 BB/K ratio over 20 1/3 innings while posting a 0.89 ERA and 0.74 WHIP.

Runners Up: Jordan Balazovic, Kris Bubic, Hans Crouse, Garrett Hill, Blaine Knight, Tommy Parsons, Shawn Semple, Taylor Varnell, Ryan Weathers

Minor League Baseball Statistical Leaders for April

AVG: Luis Robert .453
OBP: Justin Toerner .531
SLG: Luis Robert .920
R: Josh Naylor 22
2B: Drew Waters/Steele Walker/KJ Harrison/Curtis Terry 11
3B: Jorge Mateo 6
HR: Sam Huff 12
RBI: Kevin Cron 33
SB: Jose Caballero/Brayan Morales 16

W: Johan Oviedo 5
IP: Ljay Newsome 36 2/3
SV: Rodrigo Benoit/Tommy Doyle 7
K: Ljay Newsome 54
ERA: Garrett Hill/Bailey Ober 0.00
WHIP: Casey Mize 0.26
xFIP: Spencer Howard 1.60
K/9: Lucas Sims 14.77
K/BB: Cole Stapler 26.00

Minor League Baseball Hitter of the Month

At the Arizona Fall League last fall, Luis Robert had plenty of mixed reviews. He had been hurt for much of 2018, only playing 50 regular season games, and he did not hit a single home run in that entire time. He then hit 2 home runs and showed an adjusted swing in the Arizona Fall League, and he had mixed reviews on that swing, as he struggled to get to all pitches, seemingly still getting his feel for the swing.

Now in 2019, Robert has obviously taken time to get used to that new swing, and his incredible athleticism is still ringing true, as he’s hitting for average and power while still showing off his impressive speed. Robert’s also been impressive in center field, if perhaps a bit too aggressive, making one error this year on a play that most center fielders simply don’t get to.

It’s very likely that Robert is bumped up to AA soon, and observers should be cautious about railing on Robert if his numbers dip significantly with that promotion as he’ll be moving to the Southern League, a very underrated pitcher’s league, but he won’t turn 22 until August, so he’s on track to impact the White Sox outfield perhaps even late this season but certainly in 2020.

Minor League Baseball Pitcher of the Month

To show just how razor-thin the choice at high-A was, Casey Mize took this award going away after just one start in AA added to his incredible resume in 2019.

After being the top overall draft pick last year, Mize worked his way up to high-A, and many saw the raw results in those games and assumed he might not be quite an elite arm and more of a “safe” arm. That’s not true at all. Mize has rare, incredible stuff along with the ability to manipulate all of that stuff.

Mize on the season has thrown 35 innings over 5 starts, which is incredible, and he has an awesome 0.26 ERA and 0.26 WHIP in the first month of the season. He’s posted a 2/32 BB/K ratio over April, allowing just 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hit batsmen to put runners on base.

On top of all that, Mize is throwing with better stuff than he ever had in college. It is quite feasible that Tigers fans will have a chance to see Mize by the end of this season in Detroit!

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