WTHB 2015 MiLB Astros Awards

It's time to hand out the postseason Bobby Awards to a few deserving players and coaches for their 2015 seasons. I will start with the more serious awards and follow with the not-so-serious ones. The envelope please ...

FULL SEASON STARTING PITCHER OF THE YEAR: RHP JOE MUSGROVE

Big Joe Musgrove built on a terrific 2014 and earned not one but two promotions during the 2015 season. He ended the season going 12-1 with one save, a 1.88 ERA and a 0.924 WHIP in 19 appearances (14 starts) between Quad Cities, Lancaster and Corpus Christi. Musgrove walked only eight batters all season while striking out 99 in 100.2 innings of work.

Joe Musgrove - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

FULL SEASON RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR: RHP TYSON PEREZ

Perez started the season with Corpus Christi, but quickly earned his promotion to Fresno. In 42 bullpen appearances in 2015, he had a 2.45 ERA and a 0.986 WHIP. Perez doesn't get a lot of strikeouts, but he is a highly efficient pitcher who can and has retired the side on seven or eight pitches.

Tyson Perez - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

FULL SEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 1B A.J. REED

A.J. Reed has pretty much silenced any detractors with his astonishing 2015 season. In a total of 135 games between High A Lancaster and AA Corpus Christi, Reed hit a robust .340/.432/.612 with 30 doubles, five triples, 34 home runs, and 127 RBI. He also walked a whopping 86 times to 122 strikeouts. Reed was a two-time Player of the Month in the California League, a midseason All-Star, a postseason All-Star, and Rookie of the Year and MVP in the California League as well.

A.J. Reed - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

SHORT SEASON STARTING PITCHER OF THE YEAR: RHP DEAN DEETZ

Deetz started his season with the Short Season A Tri-City ValleyCats where he was 4-2 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.129 WHIP in seven appearances (five starts). After a late July promotion to Low A Quad Cities, Deetz kicked it into overdrive, going 5-1 in seven games (six starts) and compiling an 0.76 ERA and a 0.849 WHIP. He finished the season with a combined 1.70 ERA and a 0.974 WHIP in 63.2 innings pitched.

Dean Deetz - August 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

SHORT SEASON RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR: LHP STEVE NAEMARK

Naemark not only pitched well, but he did so at four different levels. Drafted in the 40th round, Naemark made only two appearances with rookie level Greeneville before being promoted to Tri-City. Nine appearances with Short Season A Tri-City led to a promotion to Low A Quad Cities; eight more appearances there and Naemark was headed to High A Lancaster for his final two regular season appearances. For the season, Naemark compiled a 1.47 ERA and a 0.880 WHIP in 21 bullpen appearances (30.2IP).

Steve Naemark - August 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

SHORT SEASON PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: (TIE) 3B BOBBY WERNES AND OF ANDY PINEDA I just loved what both of these players accomplished in 2015 and ultimately decided that both players deserved to be acknowledged.

Wernes, the 30th round 2015 draft pick out of the University of Arkansas, not only won the New York-Penn League batting title, but also led the league in on-base percentage. In 53 games for the ValleyCats, Wernes hit .346/.434/.388 with eight doubles and 29 RBI. He walked 27 times and struck out 27 times.

Pineda, who won't be 19 until November, was a team leader for the Astros DSL Blue team in batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases and runs scored, hitting .293/.417/.378 with 10 doubles, four triples, one home runs, 29 RBI and 30 stolen bases. He also walked 46 times to only 44 strikeouts and contributed nine outfield assists. In the postseason, he hit .318/.318/.545 with one double, two triples, one RBI and one stolen base.

CATCHER OF THE YEAR: ALFREDO GONZALEZ

Gonzalez was promoted twice in 2015 for a reason. Always a solid defensive catcher with a good arm, Gonzalez added a solid hit tool to go with it. Between Quad Cities, Lancaster and Corpus Christi, Gonzalez hit .321/.409/.378 in 72 games and he even stole five bases! He also had a .990 fielding percentage and a 47% caught stealing rate for the season. (He will, however, need to cut down on the number of passed balls he allowed.)

Alfredo Gonzalez - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

COMEBACK/BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 1B CONNOR GOEDERT

After being drafted by the Astros in the 15th round in 2014, Goedert struggled mightily for his first club. In 17 games for Greeneville, Goedert hit only .125/.242/.179 and was sent to the Gulf Coast League to finish his season where he hit .179/.247/.218 in 21 games. What a difference a year makes! Goedert hit .286/.349/.449 with 20 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 43 RBI in 63 games for Greeneville in 2015 and was named team MVP.

COMEBACK/BREAKTHROUGH PITCHER OF THE YEAR: RHP DEAN DEETZ

Granted Deetz, the 11th round pick in 2014, was still coming back from Tommy John surgery last year, but his reputation for control issues preceded the surgery and Deetz ended his freshman season with Greeneville posting a 8.88 ERA and a 1.934 WHIP in 25.1 innings. Fast forward to 2015 and Deetz had a 2.86 ERA and a 1.129 WHIP in seven games (five starts) with Tri-City before receiving a promotion to Quad Cities. After the promotion, Deetz was even better in his seven appearances (six starts) at that level, posting a 1.27 ERA and a 0.849 WHIP.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR: FRESNO'S TONY DEFRANCESCO

DeFrancesco brought something to the City of Fresno that they never had before ... a League Championship series and a title. In the first year of their affiliation with the Astros, the people of Fresno embraced the Astros AAA club and the team embraced the City. It was a great partnership and Tony D brought some great excitement to the fans with his team. That AAA National Championship was just gravy.

HITTING COACH OF THE YEAR: RENE ROJAS OF THE DSL ASTROS BLUE TEAM

The Dominican Summer League Astros Blue team was the first Astros DSL team to make it to the playoffs in 14 years. A big part of that was the development of the hitters on the team. They were fairly average in the league in terms of batting average and slugging, but showed signs of developing power and great plate discipline. They had one of the highest on-base percentages in the league as well as one of the highest walk rates to go with one of the lowest strikeout rates in the league. Kudos to Rojas for getting the most out of his squad.

PITCHING COACH OF THE YEAR: QUAD CITIES' DAVE BORKOWSKI

In his six years of coaching in the Astros minor league system, Borkowski has seen a lot of talent, but this season was different. Borkowski oversaw 37 pitchers who came through Quad Cities. The team ERA was 2.66 and the team WHIP was 1.152. Bork would likely proclaim modestly that he was nothing more than a traffic director for all those great arms, but I think he deserves recognition for those fantastic results.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: (TIE) FRESNO GRIZZLIES AND GREENEVILLE ASTROS

League Champions, Baby!!! 'Nuff said.

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

BEST ANTI-JINX TWITTER TROLL: KENT EMANUEL

Recovering from Tommy John surgery, Emanuel had some extra time on his hands this season. He made it his life's purpose to call out Sports Center every time they jinxed a no-hitter.

(cough cough) #Jinx pic.twitter.com/ovSTBLa7QJ

— Kent Emanuel (@KentEmanuel) August 16, 2015

BEST TWITTER HANDLE: STEVE NAEMARK
25-year old rookie Naemark gets the nod for his @GrandpaSteve1 handle.

BEST NAME IN THE ASTROS SYSTEM: FORD STAINBACK

That's Raiford Hammond Stainback to you! Honorable mention goes to Jacques Reeving Constantino Sambo.

NAME MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSPELLED: BROCK DYKXHOORN
Dykxhoorn is our reigning champion. His name is also probably the most likely to be mispronounced as well, but he's Canadian so he'll always be gracious about any gaffes.

MOST LIKELY TO STAR IN A CHICK FLICK: JASON MARTIN
Those eyes!

Jason Martin - August 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

BEST MUSTACHE: ZACH DAVIS
Not everyone is a fan of his Clark Gable-esque upper lip, but frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!

Zach Davis - August 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

MOST LIKELY TO GET PLACED ON THE NO-FLY LIST: ANDREW APLIN
Either that or most likely to get an offseason job as a lumberjack!

Andrew Aplin - August 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

PLAY OF THE YEAR: TYLER HEINEMAN
I could watch this over and over and over. And I have.

STUDMUFFIN OF THE YEAR: CHRIS DEVENSKI
Stud = seven innings with one hit (perfect through five), no walks and nine strikeouts in your first AAA start in a nationally televised Championship game.
Muffin = one of the nicest, friendliest, most accessible player you will ever meet.

MR. SEPTEMBER: KEVIN CHAPMAN
Chapman pitched 8.2 innings in 9 appearances in September (including the postseason) with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.692 WHIP. I'm sure that it was just a coincidence that Chapman recently started wearing high socks!

THE ALLEVE AWARD: BRANDON BENAVENTE
Benavente was hit by pitches more than anyone else in the Astros system this year ... 15 times in only 37 games. Ouch.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: C OSCAR CAMPOS

Campos led the Astros system with his 57% caught stealing rate.

THE WORKHOUSE AWARD, PART I: RHP MIKE HAUSCHILD

Hauschild just quietly goes about his business and gives you a lot of innings. He was just behind the innings leader in 2014 with his 133.1 innings, but he led the Astros minor leagues in 2015 with 138.1 innings in the regular season.

THE WORKHORSE AWARD, PART II: RHP JORDAN JANKOWSKI
Jankowski led the Astros minors in bullpen appearances with 55 appearances for 62.1 outings. And that was only the regular season!

THE WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER AWARD: RHP EDISON FRIAS, RHP MIKE HAUSCHILD AND RHP JOE MUSGROVE
This trio tied with 12 wins each to lead the Astros minors, HOWEVER, Joe Musgrove had a 12-1 record for a .923 win percentage in the 13 games for which he received a decision.

THE MIGHTY MOUSE AWARD: RHP JANDEL GUSTAVE

No one else was even close to Gustave's 20 saves. And for those who don't get the Mighty Mouse reference, go here.

MOST LIKELY TO OUTRUN A COYOTE: (TIE) OF BOBBY BOYD AND OF JOHNNY SEWALD

Boyd led the Astros minors with 40 stolen bases in 117 games. Sewald swiped 31 in only 70 games. Boyd had better watch his back because Sewald may be gaining on him next season. Two great roadrunners. Meep meep!

WALK LIKE A MAN AWARD: C JAMIE RITCHIE

Ritchie walked a whopping 95 times (to only 81 strikeouts) in 111 games.

THE WIZARD OF OZ AWARD: 1B A.J. REED

There's no place like home and that's precisely where this wizard sent 127 players as he led the organization in RBI.

ONE FOR THE MONEY AWARD: 1B A.J. REED

Reed led the Astros minor leagues in hits with 178.

TWO FOR THE SHOW AWARD: IF MOTT HYDE

Hyde doubled himself to second base 40 times in 2015.

THREE TO GET READY AWARD: OF RONNIE MITCHELL

Mitchell was tied at 11 triples with former Astros farmhand Brett Phillips.

GO, CAT, GO AWARD: 1B A.J. REED

Reed's organization-leading 34 home runs earn him a pair of blue suede shoes.

MOST REMARKABLE FEAT: 1B JON SINGLETON

In a May 13th 17-6 drubbing of Albuquerque, Singleton hit a two-RBI single in the first, a grand slam in the second, a two-run home run in the third, and a two-RBI single in the 6th to end the day with 10 RBI in one game.

MOST REMARKABLE FEAT, PART II: OF DEREK FISHER
I'm not sure how I forgot about this, but friend of the blog Jason Schwartz jogged my memory. Only about two weeks after Singleton's big game, Derek Fisher hit a solo homer in the first, a grand slam in the second, another grand slam in the third, and a bases clearing double in the seventh. That's right ... three home homes, including two grand slams, and 12 RBIs. And did I mention that it was his first game after his promotion to HIgh A?!?! How did I forget that?

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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.

WTHB Presents the 2014 Bobby Awards

It's time to hand out the postseason Bobby Awards to a few deserving players and coaches for their 2014 seasons. I will start with the more serious awards and follow with the not-so-serious ones. The envelope please ...

Full Season Starting/Tandem Pitcher of the Year: LHP Tommy Shirley
RHP Nick Tropeano was under serious consideration for the honor, as was LHP Josh Hader, but in the end I was extremely impressed with what Tommy Shirley accomplished this season and I wanted to give him some special acknowledgment for that. For the first three months of the season, Shirley appeared in 17 games (13 starts) for Corpus Christi and managed a 1.88 ERA and a 0.927 WHIP in 86.1 innings pitched during his first season pitching against Texas League hitters. He held batters to a .201 batting average and walked only 17 batters while striking out 78. Once he was promoted to Oklahoma City in July, he had a tough couple of starts before settling in the rest of the way. He allowed 11 earned runs in his first two outings, but then allowed only four in the next 11. Shirley was moved to the bullpen after three starts presumably due to the fact that his previous high in innings was 75.1. He ended the season with a 2.53 ERA, a 1.099 WHIP, and 32 walks to 100 strikeouts in 117.1 innings. And in those 10 relief appearances, he stranded all but one of 11 runners he inherited! I look forward to seeing what I've heard alternatively called his "Invisiball" or "Bugs Bunny Fastball" on a major league mound in the not so distant future.

Tommy Shirley - March 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Full Season Relief Pitcher of the Year: RHP Tyler Brunnemann
This one really wasn't a hard choice at all. Brunnemann simply dominated in his time at Quad Cities and more than held his own after his promotion to Lancaster in early August. In 33 bullpen appearances between the two venues, he had a 1.90 ERA and a 0.892 WHIP in 61.2 innings of work. He walked 15 batters and struck out 69. He held batters to a .183 batting average for the season. Also, if my hand-kept records are correct, I am showing that of 25 inherited runners, only 8 went on to score. He was also named MVP for the just completed 2014 California League Championshp Series. Not bad for a 40th round draft pick! (Oh, and he wears high socks.)

Tyler Brunnemann - September 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Full Season Player of the Year: CF Brett Phillips
I am an unabashed fan of Brett Phillips as a player and as a person, but going in to the season, I never really thought that he would be in the mix for my Player of the Year, much less the winner. But what he accomplished this season showed off all his tools. He hit for average, got on base at a good clip, had excellent power numbers, exhibited speed on the basepaths and showed off his canon of an arm in centerfield. It was a truly incredible season. For the season, he hit .310/.375/.529 with 29 doubles, 14 triples (yes, you read that correctly), 17 home runs, 68 RBI, 23 stolen bases and had 17 outfield assists. Yeah, that happened. [Full Disclosure: I was somewhat torn between Phillips and Conrad Gregor and I turned to trusty co-author of WTHB, Dustin, and asked him what he thought. He gave Phillips the edge by "the thinnest possible razor-thin margin." After putting all the numbers down on paper, I definitely agreed.]

Brett Phillips - September 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Short Season Pitcher of the Year: RHP Troy Scribner
This was undoubtedly one of the hardest categories for me. Under serious consideration were the fine seasons of RHP Agapito Barrios, RHP Erasmo Pinales, RHP Elieser Hernandez and RHP Joe Musgrove. But in the end, I went with Scribner's sheer dominance. Scribner made a couple of spot appearances in Corpus in April (2-0 with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP) before returning to Extended Spring Training. He was then assigned to the Short Season A Tri-City ValleyCats where he was 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA and a 0.962 WHIP in 10 starts. Scribner was promoted to Quad Cities for his final five starts and had mixed results at the higher level, but for the season he ended with a 10-3 record, a 2.09 ERA, a 1.102 WHIP, and walked 27 batters while striking out a whopping 102 in 81.2 innings pitched.

Short Season Relief Pitcher of the Year: RHP Derick Velazquez
There were also a number of fine seasons amongst the relief corps. In particular, RHP Aaron Vaughn and RHP Josue Uribe stood out. And RHP Eric Peterson's final month of the season was ridiculous (in a good way). But the hands-down winner was Velazquez. In 18 games for Tri-City, he was 2-1 with four saves, a 1.57 ERA and a 0.870 WHIP in 23 innings pitched. Only one base was stolen on his watch and he stranded 11 of the 14 runners he inherited. Oh, yeah, and he only walked two batters for his season while striking out 24.

Short Season Player of the Year: 1B A.J. Reed
Reed, the Astros 2nd round pick from 2014, hit the ground running in his first professional season. In 34 games at Tri-City, he hit .306/.420/.516 in 34 games and was promptly promoted to Quad Cities at the end of July where he played in an additional 34 games, hitting .272/.326/.528. In those 68 total games, he scored 43 runs; hit 20 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs; drove in 54 runs; stole two bases; and walked 30 times while striking out 54 times. In addition, he is an excellent defensive player! Unfortunately, I just missed Reed in my whirlwind tour of the Astros minor league ballparks this summer, but by all accounts, he is a truly special player. Another player under serious consideration for this award was a 17-year old Dominican player who earned a late promotion from the DSL to the GCL. 2B Frankeny Fernandez is still a bit rough around the edges, but what he was able to accomplish in his first season of professional ball was remarkable.

Defensive Catcher of the Year: Roberto Peña
Just put Peña down as a given to win this every year until he graduates to the major leagues. In 93 games catching in Lancaster this season, he had a .996 fielding percentage, 9.02 range factor and he caught 57% of would be base-stealers (that is not a typo). He is the most elite of elite catchers.

Offensive Catcher of the Year: Jamie Ritchie
Ritchie was actually on my short list for Short Season Player of the Year, but he was edged out since he didn't play in as many games as Reed. In 47 games for Tri-City, the 13th round 2014 draft pick hit .331/.455/.465 with 12 doubles, two triples and a home run. He even stole five bases, an uncommon occurrence for most catchers. And he walked (29 times) more than he struck out (26 times), an uncommon occurrence for most hitters regardless of position.

Postseason MVP (Player): 1B Tyler White and DH Chase McDonald
I was going to jokingly award this to Tyler McDonald or Chase White because I simply couldn't decide between the two. They had the two most potent bats in the JetHawks line-up in the post-season. Between the two players, they scored 10 runs, collected eight doubles and four home runs and drove in 12 runs in eight post-season games.

Postseason MVP (Pitcher): RHP Tyler Brunnemann
Until the final game of the California League Championship Series on Monday, I was leaning toward awarding this to Joe Musgrove for his fine work in the New York-Penn League series, but Brunnemann was named the MVP of the Cal League Finals for a reason. Coming into the fifth inning of Monday's game with two runners on and no outs, Brunnemann retired the next three batters without allowing a run across. And he went on to pitch a total of three hitless innings with six strikeouts to earn the win. All told, Brunnemann appeared in five games with a 1.35 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP and stranded all eight runners that he inherited. Case closed.

Comeback/Breakthrough Pitcher of the Year: RHP Chris Devenski
To say that Devenski had a tough year in 2013 is a bit of an understatement. He struggled mightily at Lancaster (7.88 ERA and 1.819 WHIP) and was demoted to Quad Cities where he started to figure things out again, but still ended the season with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.592 WHIP. Fast forward a season and his success at Lancaster (4.11 ERA and 1.070 WHIP) led to his promotion to Corpus Christi in early July. There he put up a 3.92 ERA and a 1.234 WHIP in his final 10 appearances. Quite the turnaround!

Comeback/Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1B/DH Chase McDonald
For McDonald, the 2014 improvements represented a nice breakthrough for the 2013 12th round pick. McDonald had a solid season in 2013 (.245/.341/.413), but you just knew that he was capable of much more than that. In 2014, he showed that he was, indeed, capable of more as he put up a very nice .279/.363/.481 batting line with 25 doubles, 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 102 games at Quad Cities. He was rewarded with a promotion to Lancaster for the last game of the season and had a very nice postseason campaign.

Manager of the Year: Lancaster's Rodney Linares
Linares managed his team to a first half Championship, dealt adeptly with the loss of one Astros top prospect to injury and with the highly public struggles of another top prospect, had a revolving door installed in the clubhouse because of promotions, injuries and one retirement, and then went on to win his second California League Championship title in three years with a team that had only a handful of players who started the season there.

Hitting Coach of the Year: Joel Chimelis of Quad Cities
Chimelis took a team largely comprised of players from the 2013 Tri-City team that had a batting line of .246/.322/.345 (as well as from the weak-hitting 2013 Greeneville team) and ended up coaching them to a .261/.340/.362 line in 2014. He oversaw great improvements from Brett Phillips, Jon Kemmer, Chase McDonald and others and ended up with a dozen or so of his players successfully graduating to the next level before the season was over.

Pitching Coach of the Year: Corpus Christi's Doug Brocail
Brocail was supposed to be a Special Assistant to the General Manager this season. And he was, but he also ended up taking on the Pitching Coach duties of the Hooks team when Gary Ruby fell ill. He gets this award not only for doing double duty, but because of the way he handled four pitchers who have not been considered top prospects in the system. Brocail recognized what Tommy Shirley had accomplished in Lancaster the prior year and built on that beautifully, resulting in Shirley's success and eventual promotion. He was able to coax from Jordan Jankowski the absolute dominance that emerged by season's end. And he successfully continued the development (started by Lancaster Pitching Coach Don Alexander earlier in the season) of Chris Devenski and Tyson Perez, each of whom opened some eyes by the end of the season. And, as he told me, he really had fun doing it (but don't tell his wife!).

Team of the Year: Lancaster JetHawks
California League Champions, Baby!!! 'Nuff said.

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

Funniest Tweeter: Brian Holmes
Holmes is not quite as prolific a tweeter as Kenny Long (who I still miss for his frequent Tweets of the Day), but what he lacks in quantity, he makes up for in quality.

The California League, where cacti outnumber humans.
— Brian Holmes (@BHolmes130) May 17, 2014

Best Twitter Handle: Chris Cotton
Cotton is the reigning champion with his @58percentCotton handle.

Best Name in the Astros System: Frankeny Fernandez

I still miss Geronimo Franzua and Rayderson Chevalier, but Fernandez is a Frankenstein nickname waiting to happen!

Best Nickname in the Astros System: Ramon Laureano
In a nod to Ramen (Ramon/Ramen, get it?), the very serious looking Laureano has been christened "Noodles" by his teammates.

Ramon "Noodles" Laureano - July 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Name Most Likely to be Misspelled: RHP Brock Dykxhoorn
Dykxhoorn's name is also probably the most likely to be mispronounced as well, but he's Canadian so he'll always be gracious about any gaffes.

Most Likely to Give Up Baseball for a Career in Modeling: Lance McCullers
That is one photogenic young man!

Lance McCullers - September 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The Bridesmaid Award: OF Tanner Mathis
Last season, Mathis was a late addition at Lancaster prior to the postseason, but he never got into a game. This season he ended up on the DL in late August and had to watch the postseason from the dugout again. Next year, we hope that Tanner is finally a bride.

Best Mustache: Delino DeShields
This bushy caterpillar from DeShields just edges out Mike Hauschild's Fu Manchu.

Most Likely to be Misidentified as Amish: Brett Phillips
Seriously, take a look at his playoff beard in his picture at the top. Doesn't he look like he's out on Rumspringa?

Player Most Likely to Cause Road Closings: Chase McDonald
Since both of McDonald's postseason home runs at Lancaster landed on Avenue I, the City of Lancaster might need to put traffic controls in place when McDonald presumably returns there next season.

The Joey Tribbiani Award: Bryan Muniz
Just look at this picture. "How YOU doin'?"

Bryan Muniz - July 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The "Wild Thing" Award: RHP Gerald Benzant
With 15 hit batters and 18 wild pitches in 37.2 innings, Benzant reminds me of another pitcher who had a similar season a couple years back. Jandel Gustave, had 5 wild pitches and 21 hit batters in only 19.1 innings in 2011. Now he is one of the most exciting heat-throwing prospects in the Astros system. Let's see if Benzant can follow in his footsteps.

Best Overheard Conversation of 2014: Lancaster Pitching Staff
During early work one day in May, I was out taking pictures and overheard a very animated conversation among the Lancaster pitching staff regarding the existence of mermaids, Bigfoot and aliens. I won't out anyone, but one particular college-educated player was adamantly in the pro-mermaid camp.

Best Photobomb: Devonte German

Aaron Greenwood & Dean Deetz

Being Photobombed by Devonte German

July 2014 - Photo by Jayne Hansen

The Alleve Award: Tyler White
After holding the crown for two years, Matt Duffy finally stepped down as the hit-by-pitch leader in the Astros minor leagues. This year the "honors" go to Tyler White who was plunked 19 times. Duffy faded to fifth place with 12.

Armed and Dangerous, Part I: C Roberto Peña

Pena led the Astros system, by far, with his 57% caught stealing rate.

Armed and Dangerous, Part II: CF Brett Phillips

Phillips led the Astros minors in outfield assists with 17 in 130 games.

Armed and Dangerous, Part III: LHP Kent Emanuel

Emanuel picked off 12 baserunners this season.

The Workhorse Award, Part I: LHP Rudy Owens
Owens, after missing most of last season due to injury, pitched the most innings of any Astros minor leaguer in 2014 at 135. And he pitched another 5.2 at the major league level!

The Workhorse Award, Part II: RHP Jason Stoffel
Stoffel led the Astros minors in bullpen appearances ... by far! He pitched 64.2 innings in 54 outings.

The Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Award: Josh Hader, Chris Devenski and Troy Scribner
This trio tied with 10 wins each to lead the Astros minors.

The Mighty Mouse Award: Jamaine Cotton, Tyson Perez, Andrew Walter and Ryan Thompson

These four pitchers are all tied atop the Astros minor league leaderboard for most saves in a season with 12 each. Most impressive from this list is Ryan Thompson who accomplished the feat in 14 to 17 fewer games than the other three! And for those who don't get the Mighty Mouse reference, go here.

The Fireman Award: Kevin Chapman, Josue Uribe, Mitch Lambson, Jordan Mills and Jason Stoffel
Although Kevin Chapman led this list by stranding a whopping 79% of inherited runners, the other four were close behind. All five of these relief pitchers stranded 72% or more of the runners they inherited.

Most Likely to Outrun a Coyote: OF Delino DeShields

DeShields is definitely a roadrunner and is a three-time winner in this category with 54 stolen bases. Meep meep!

Walk Like a Man Award: 3B Rio Ruiz

Ruiz led the Astros system with 82 walks in 130 games.

The Wizard of Oz Award: OF Preston Tucker

There's no place like home and that's precisely where this wizard sent 94 players as he led the organization in RBI.

One for the Money: 2B Tony Kemp

Kemp led the Astros minor leagues in hits with 167.

Two for the Show: 3B Rio Ruiz and OF Teoscar Hernandez

This duo tied for most doubles in the system with 37 each.

Three to Get Ready: OF Brett Phillips

Phillips' 14 triples led the organization.

Go, Cat, Go: OF Preston Tucker

Tucker's organization-leading 24 home runs earn him a pair of blue suede shoes.

The Cyborg Award: RHP Jordan Jankowski

At the end of the season, Jankowski was relentless, striking out 38 batters in his last five outings (24 innings pitched), leading some to believe that Jankowski really is a Cyborg.

Most Remarkable Feat: IF Ronald Torreyes
Torreyes played in 27 straight games from August 1st through August 29th before finally striking out on August 30th. Wow.

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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.