Kings of Kauffman Presents: Royals Minor League Awards

Jun 6, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseball gear before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Dominican Summer League

Player of the Year: Meibrys Viloria – 129 PA, .306/.383/.450

Viloria is only 17 years old, but he showed the kind of plate discipline you expect from a much more seasoned player, drawing walks in 10.9% of his plate appearances, while striking out only 14% of the time. While you’d love to see more power, 11 extra-base hits is nothing to sneeze at for a player so young.

Pitcher of the Year: Gerson Garabito – 13 GS, 49.1 IP, 11.1 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 1.28 ERA

The 19-year old righty walked a few more batters than you’d prefer, but when batters put the ball in play, they didn’t do so with much success. Garabito allowed only 24 hits all season, and actually had 4 separate no-hit appearances, 2 of which were 5 innings long. He also has a fantastic name, which counts for something.

Rookie Level Burlington

Player of the Year: Logan Moon – 238 PA, .332/.357/.447

After being drafted in the 6th round of this year’s draft, Moon did what you expect from a 22-year old in rookie ball: he hit. He also stole 16 bases and was only caught once, and that speed should be a big part of the Blue Springs native’s game, moving forward.

Pitcher of the Year: Niklas Stephenson – 11 G, 59 IP, 7.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 2.14 ERA

Stephenson’s peripherals took a big jump this year, as he went from a K/BB of just over 1 to a K/BB of 5.2 in Burlington. He did a great job of limiting hits, allowing only 45 of them, including just 2 home runs.