As a way of wrapping up the week-to-week minor league coverage for the year, it seemed fitting to have an “awards ceremony,” recognizing the best performances of the year. Most (but not all) of these guy are legitimate prospects, but there are certainly others with bright futures that didn’t make the cut. The format here is as follows: Hitter (i.e. Position Player) of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, All-Star Team and Rookie of the Year (a player drafted or signed in 2016 who is not on the All Star roster).
Pitcher of the Year
Sean Reid-Foley
10-5, 2.81 ERA, 115 1/3 IP, 130 K, 38 BB
Organizations are always hoping that players with great natural ability will consolidate that ability into actual on field performance and break through. Reid-Foley had a perfectly good year in 2015 and was widely ranked among the top five prospects heading into this season, but he made significant improvements in every major statistical category this time around. Most notably, he improved in the area of refining what had previously been a somewhat worrisome walk rate. A mid-season promotion to Dunedin didn’t slow him down either, as his strikeout rate went up and his ERA went down across the same number of innings. While there are some other pitchers who had outstanding years – one could make a strong case for Jordan Romano, Angel Perdomo, and even Ryan Borucki if you only count his Lansing stats – but SRF has established himself as the team’s best pitching prospect.
Hitter of the Year
Rowdy Tellez
.297/.387/.530, 23 HR, 81 RBI, 29 2B, 92/63 K/BB
In a similar fashion, Tellez was generally recognized pre-season as one of the Blue Jays better prospects, though he often found himself in the back half of Top 10 lists, but he took his game to the next level in 2016. Despite an aggressive assignment to New Hampshire, Tellez maintained his contact and strikeout rates while dramatically improving his walk rate and his power production. A .917 OPS by a 21 year old at AA is no mean thing. Additionally, he’s impressed the organization with a tremendous work ethic and a strong effort to improve his defense.
All Stars
Rotation
Sean Reid-Foley – See above.
Jordan Romano – A 10th round choice in 2014 who missed all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Markham, Ontario native pitched like a first rounder. He’ll begin at Dunedin next year but expect him to be pushed as quickly as his success allows.
Angel Perdomo – Just over a year younger than Romano, the 6’6″ lefty was the workhorse of the Lansing staff. He’s a bit less refined than Romano, and thus likely to be a one-level-per-year guy for now while he works on refining his secondary pitches.
Justin Maese – The youngest of this group at 19, he has excellent control and a crazy-good sinker. He doesn’t feature the swing-and-miss stuff as much but hasn’t needed it yet. after his first nervous start in Lansing he was only ever roughed up once. Take out that one game, in which he allowed eight earned runs, and his ERA at the level is 2.32 to go with a 2.05 in Vancouver.
Jon Harris – The 2015 first rounder had a combined 2.71 ERA between Lansing and Dunedin. He’s another pitcher who’s on a program to broaden his arsenal, but unlike some others it did not seriously impact his productivity. The team might be encouraged if he bumped his K rate a bit next season.
Bullpen
Danny Barnes – I’ve said a lot about this guy already, but I encourage you to just click on his name and bask in his accomplishments this year. Or I can save you even that much trouble. 61.1 IP, 77 strikeouts, 6 – yes SIX – walks, and 5 ER between New Hampshire and Buffalo. He may well be a key player in the Blue Jays ‘pen next year.
Matt Dermody – You’ve already met the 26 year old LHP, as he climbed all the way from Dunedin to a September stint with the major league club. He wasn’t really on anyone’s radar coming into the year until he put up 38 innings split almost evenly between A and AA and walked only three batters while striking out 41. That will get you noticed. He’s set to pitch in the Arizona Fall League in October.
Chris Smith – Not really a prospect, given that he was 28 and pitching at AA, but deserves recognition for his 1.89 ERA and 12 K/9 work.
Dusty Issacs – The 25 year old RH split the season between Lansing and Dunedin and limited base-runners while striking out more than one per inning, while posting a combined 2.13 ERA.
Will Browning – another guy who’s had good numbers through the system but has always been entirely too old for the level. He spent most of this season at AA and, like Smith, he’s 28 so he’s not a prospect (although he hung around the major league camp so long in spring training that one might have supposed the team saw something). Still, his 1.94 ERA and solid stats deserve a nod.
Line-up
1B: Rowdy Tellez – See above.
2B: Christian Lopes – His best year since 2012 was not eye-popping (.758 OPS) but 2B was not a statistically impressive position in the system.
SS: Richard Urena – Earned himself a promotion to AA and recognition by at least one publication as the #1 prospect in the organization with a productive first half. Had a torrid two week debut at New Hampshire before cooling off. He’s still got learning to do.
3B: Vlad Guerrero, Jr – as a 17 year old playing against players 2-3 years older, VGJ was still the most productive overall 3B in the system. Not only for his .808 OPS, but also for 15 steals in 20 attempts, almost as many walks (33) as strikeouts (35), and surprisingly improving defense at the hot corner. Not to irrationally raise expectations, but he may start next year in Lansing and still end up being the best hitter in the system.
RF: Joshua Palacios – A .355 average and .909 OPS in Vancouver for a 4th round pick this year is a nice first impression. If he can translate the impressive plate skills into some pop, the Jays will be well pleased with this pick.
CF: JB Woodman – in a normal year this would be Anthony Alford’s spot but injuries drug his first half down so far that he never rebuilt the impressive stat line of a year ago. He’s still be best position player in the system for my money, but I can’t overlook the rough patches this year. Woodman, however, is a solid choice. Toronto’s second selection in the most recent draft, he got off to a slow start but turned it on in July and pounded Northwest League pitching and didn’t slow down when he got a late-season cup of coffee with Lansing.
LF: Jonathan Davis – Other than the catcher, he’s the least heralded hitter on this team but he’s not undeserving. A small (5’8″), fast, spark-plug type guy who posted previously unseen power and speed numbers this season, the 24 year old “Other” Davis was a key part of Dunedin’s successful season. He has 20 career homers, 14 of which came this year. He also has 55 career steals, and 33 came this year. He’s never had a year of sustained success before so it remains to be seen if this is an outlier, but he deserves this spot.
DH: Max Pentecost – As I documented earlier in the season, Pentecost took some time to completely get his timing back once he was activated from his long DL stay. He hit a homer in his first game back but no other extra-base hit for another 23 games. Once he found his pop, he went on to slash .349/.401/.611/1.012 over 38 games before being promoted to Dunedin. He’ll be back behind the plate next spring. Expect big things.
C: Jorge Saez – Okay, someone had to be the catcher on this team. I could have cheated and put Pentecost here but that seemed kinda tacky. Saez is 26, and while reportedly a good receiver, but he’s a hitter of modest ability, who’s line this year was inflated by a very successful 18 game tour at in Dunedin. But of course it goes without saying that an outburst by a 26 year old player in the Florida State League is hardly going to put you on the prospect lists.
Rookie of the Year
Bo Bichette – okay I confess, I made this one up so that I could include Bichette in this post. I couldn’t exactly bump Urena for a guy who only got into 22 games (thanks to a ruptured appendix) but WHAT a 22 games it was. He hit .427 and slugged .732, and if he comes in next spring and is still red hot, he might convince them to let him break with Lansing. He has a seriously funky swing, so I’m told, but it sure worked for him in 2016.
One Final Thing
The organization published their list of players who are heading to instructs this month. It includes, as is customary, every 2016 draftee, the vast majority of the rosters of the stateside short season teams, and some other special cases. The names that jumped out at me:
Max Pentecost – Will be resuming catcher duties for the first time since his injury.
Clinton Hollon – Missed the whole season
Juan Kelly – Apparently working on defensive versatility, having played C, 1B and 3B
Mitch Nay – Also making up for lost time
Joesph Reyes – 18 year old Dominican free agent signing
McGregory Contreras – 18 year old OF, the best (statistically) of the four DSL players invited.
The entire roster can be found here.
Lead Photo: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports