The 2013 Astros Minor League Bobby Awards

It's time to hand out the postseason Bobby Awards to a few deserving players and coaches for their 2013 seasons. I will start with the more serious awards and follow with the not-so-serious ones. The envelope please ...

Full Season Pitcher of the Year: RHP Asher Wojciechowski
I really struggled with this one because there were many deserving players, but in the end, it all came down to one thing. Consistency. Aside from a couple of tough starts in August, Wojciechowski performed consistently well throughout the season. At Corpus Christi in April, he was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and an 0.923 WHIP. Batters hit .189 against him. After his promotion to Oklahoma City in May, he compiled a 9-7 record with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.194 WHIP. Batters hit .229 against him. He peaked in July as batters only managed a .163 batting average against him on his way to a 3-0 record, a 2.00 ERA and a 0.889 WHIP. He also led all Astros minor league pitchers with his 160 innings pitched.

Full Season Player of the Year: CF George Springer
What George Springer has accomplished this season is nothing short of remarkable. He joined the exclusive 30/30 Club early on in August and came very close to joining the even more exclusive 40/40 club, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since 1956. He ended the season with 37 home runs and 45 stolen bases. In 135 games split between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City, he hit .303/.411/.600 with 27 doubles, four triples, 37 home runs and 108 RBI.

Short Season Pitcher of the Year: RHP Michael Feliz
Michael Feliz is starting to get the attention he deserves. In 14 games (10 starts) for Tri-City, he was 4-2 with a 1.96 ERA and an 0.952 WHIP. He walked only 13 batters while striking out 78 over 69 innings pitched. And did I mention that he routinely hits the mid-90's and he won't be 20 until the end of September? Yeah, there's that.

Short Season Player of the Year: 3B Tyler White
The 2013 33rd round draft pick made quite a name for himself over the first 64 games of his professional career. He started the season with the GCL Astros where he hit .365/.474/.556 in 18 games. After another 18 games in which he dominated at Greeneville, he was once again promoted, this time to Tri-City. He ended the season with a .322/.406/.456 batting line, 14 doubles, six home runs and 52 RBI.

Postseason MVP (Player): 3B Rio Ruiz
Rio Ruiz' constant improvement throughout the season was simply outstanding. After hitting only .167 in April, he improved to .246 in May, .269 in June, .279 in July, .298 in August, and .333 in September. He ended the season with 33 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 63 RBI. And he hit .370 in the postseason with three home runs, seven RBI and two stolen bases.

Postseason MVP (Pitcher): LHP Josh Hader
There were so many incredible postseason pitching performances, but Josh Hader's two postseason wins stood out. His second appearance, in the winning game of the Championship Finals, was particularly impressive as he threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. His postseason ERA and WHIP were 0.64 and 0.571, respectively.

Comeback/Breakthrough Pitcher of the Year: LHP Chris Lee
Chris Lee, a fourth round 2011 draft pick, had a less than impressive freshman season in 2011 and then was shut down after pitching only a handful of innings in 2012. But he came back strong and healthy and throwing a mid-90's fastball in 2013 and the results came. In 11 games (10 starts), he was 2-2 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.095 WHIP. He also got the win in his only postseason start.

Comeback/Breakthrough Player of the Year: OF Dan Gulbransen
After getting drafted in the 16th round in 2012, Gulbransen hit only .218/.317/.354 in his first professional season at Tri-City. Fast forward a year and Gulbransen ended up with two promotions and a .321/.385/.502 batting line.

Manager of the Year: Josh Bonifay/Greeneville Astros
Yes, Ed Romero and Omar Lopez led their teams to Championship wins, but Josh Bonifay took his team to the Appy League Championship Finals despite having a team with one of the weakest offensive lines in the league and despite having lost quite a number of players to promotion. And he did all of that as a first year manager. That is impressive, to say the least.

Hitting Coach of the Year: Darryl Robinson/Lancaster JetHawks
It almost doesn't seem fair to single out D-Rob in light of the incredible talent he had to work with, but that .289/.384/.469 team batting line reflects more than just the talent on the team. It also reflects the hard work that Robinson put in with the team and the respect that he earned from both players and peers.

Pitching Coach of the Year: Rick Aponte/Dominican Summer League Astros
Aponte returned to coach in the Dominican Summer League this year and his pitchers had a CUMULATIVE ERA of 2.35 and a CUMULATIVE WHIP of 1.127. Last year the team had a 4.20 ERA and a 1.494 WHIP. Case closed.

Team of the Year: Quad Cities River Bandits
The River Bandits had some early struggles and ended up in fourth place in the first half, albeit with a very nice .551 win percentage. They had a .623 win percentage in the second half and ended both the second half and the season in second place in their division and then went on to win the Midwest League Championship.

Now for some of the not-so-serious awards ~

Studmuffin of the Year: RHP Mike Foltynewicz
Last year, I borrowed the studmuffin tag from Folty's girlfriend and he became a frequent Studmuffin of the Day on my game recaps and ultimately was named Studmuffin of the Year. Folty is a repeat winner, mostly due to the frequency of seeing this when he pitches:

Studmuffin in Training: RHP Vincent Velasquez

There are several pitchers who can bring the heat, such as Velasquez, Lance McCullers, Michael Feliz and Jandel Gustave, but I'm going with Velasquez because I don't think he gets the recognition that he deserves. I'm certain that a prestigious award like this will change all that (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Most Likely to buy Stock in Alleve: 3B Matt Duffy
Duffy cut down his hit by pitch total from 41 in 2012 to 21 in 2013, but still led the Astros minor leaguers in the category.

The Jandel Gustave Award for Most Improved Control: RHP Jandel Gustave
Gustave issued 33 walks with 21 wild pitches and five hit batters in only 19+ innings pitched in 2011. In 2013, he issued 23 walks with two wild pitches and four hit batters in 43+ innings.

The Oh-So-Close Award: RHP Jake Buchanan
Buchanan was in the running for both my Pitcher of the Year and my Comeback/Breakthrough Pitcher of the Year and he was certainly deserving of either. He bounced back from a not-so-terrific year in 2012 to an excellent season in 2013. Between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City, he had a 12-7 record with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.099 WHIP. He only walked 22 batters in 158+ innings.

The Brad Ausmus Award: IF Joe Sclafani
Much like Ausmus, Sclafani went to Dartmouth. And much like Ausmus, Sclafani is also charming, intelligent, funny and not too hard on the eyes. Oh, and he's a Really Good Player, too.

Funniest Tweeters: LHP Brian Holmes and LHP Kenny Long
When it came right down to it, I couldn't pick between the two. I like both Holmes' dry wit and Long's ability to poke fun at himself. I don't think it's a coincidence that both are lefties. Here are a couple of my favorites from the duo ~

Tweet of the Day

Brian Holmes ‏@BHolmes130

Do you ever flex your wrist back just to make sure you aren't Spiderman?

Tweet of the Day

Kenny Long ‏@Booogggie
WWF commercials are so depressing. I want to adopt a wild polar bear

Best Twitter Handle: LHP Chris Cotton - @58percentCotton

Best Astros Minor League Inspired Hashtag: #DailyDoseOfCoke
C/DH M.P. Cokinos inspired the twitter hashtag with his early season heroics for the Lancaster team.

Best Name in the Astros System: RHP Erasmo Pinales

I still really like Rayderson Chevalier and Geronimo Franzua (last year's winners), but when I saw that, according to a baby name book, Erasmo means "to love," I couldn't resist picking him.

Best Nickname in the Astros System: 1B Erik Castro/Big Sexy
I overheard the Astros coaches in Corpus Christi calling Erik "Big Sexy" when he was taking BP. It's hard to beat that.

Name Most Likely to be Misspelled: LHP Christopher Christofer Cristopher Cristhopher Santamaria

Best Mustache (Old School): LHP Eric Berger

Tweet of the Day

Eric Berger ‏@EBerger18
What you guys think? #stach #moustache pic.twitter.com/KK9ukkO4o

Best Mustache (Contemporary): RHP Michael Dimock

Armed and Dangerous, Part I: C Roberto Peña

Peña caught 43 of 83 would-be base stealers this season for a whopping 53% caught stealing percentage.

Armed and Dangerous, Part II: OF Drew Muren and OF Teoscar Hernandez

Hernandez led the Astros minors in outfield assists with 14 in 123 games. Muren had 12 in only 89 games.

The Mighty Mouse Award: RHP Travis Ballew and RHP Gonzalo Sanudo

Ballew led the Astros crew with 21 saves in 50 appearances. Sanudo had 19 saves in only 30 appearances. And for those who don't get the Mighty Mouse reference, go here.

Most Likely to Feed the Hungry: LHP Luis Cruz

If Luis Cruz starts the 2014 season in Corpus Christi, he is apt to feed a lot of hungry fans. Hooks fans get a free taco coupon for every game in which the home squad records 10 strikeouts. With an organization-leading 150 strikeouts, Cruz should be able to earn the fans a few of those.

The Good Sons Award: LHP Kyle Hallock and LHP Luis Cruz

Pitching a combined no-hitter on Mother's Day this year had to make their mamas proud.

Most Likely to Outrun a Coyote: 2B Delino DeShields

DeShields is definitely a roadrunner and is a repeat winner in this category with 51 stolen bases. Meep meep!

Walk Like a Man Award: SS Nolan Fontana

Fontana led the Astros system with an astonishing 102 walks in only 104 games.

The Wizard of Oz Award: CF George Springer

There's no place like home and that's precisely where this wizard sent 108 players as he led the organization in RBI.

One for the Money: OF Preston Tucker

Tucker led the Astros minor leagues in hits with 159.

Two for the Show: SS Carlos Correa, IF Brandon Laird and 3B Rio Ruiz

This trio tied for most doubles in the system with 33 each.

Three to Get Ready: 2B Delino DeShields

DeShields' 14 triples led the organization.

Go, Cat, Go: CF George Springer

Springer's organization-leading 37 home runs earn him a pair of blue suede shoes.

The Superman Award: OF Andrew Aplin

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Andrew Aplin in centerfield!!!

And Here Is The Play ...

Here is the play that had Jason Schwartz gushing with praise for Andrew Aplin in last night's game courtesy of this tweet from Manager Rodney Linares. The original photographs are credited to Terry Lawton.

Rodney Linares ‏@RondeyLinares
CF Andre Aplin made one of the best plays my eyes have ever seen #Ballplayer #proud of the boyz pic.twitter.com/WQc3zu7RUO

The Cyborg Award: RHP Brady Rodgers

This one was Buca's idea and I loved it. Rodgers was relentless, striking out 7, 8, 9 and 11 in his last four games of the season (with that final 11-strikeout game being a playoff game). And with some of the best command in the system, maybe he really is a Cyborg.

The K-K-K-K-K-K-K-BB Award: RHP Aaron West

West ended the season with an almost 7:1 strikeout to walk ratio, the highest among any full season starting pitchers.

The Jeff Bagwell Award (2013 Edition): C Max Stassi

This award goes to the player obtained in a trade who is most likely to make the trading team regret it. There were a number of players picked up in 2013 via trade that could fit the bill, but I'm going to go with Max Stassi. He looks to be a very special player and Oakland may very well regret ever letting him go.

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I wish I could have given an award to every player in the system after such a terrific year, but, alas, I finally ran out of time and ideas.

Any player wanting a certificate commemorating your honor may contact me via the email address on the front page of the blog or via direct message on twitter.