Kings of Kauffman Presents: Royals Minor League Awards

Rookie Level Idaho Falls

Player of the Year: Ryan O’Hearn – 293 PA, .361/.444/.590

O’Hearn did not disappoint in his professional debut, taking the Pioneer League by storm. He hit 13 home runs, tacked on another 16 doubles, and drew walks in 13.3% of his plate appearances en route to winning the league MVP award.

Pitcher of the Year: Torey Deshazier – 13 G, 65.1 IP, 9.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 3.17 ERA

The slender right-hander had an impressive season overall, but he really put things together in August, when he struck out 31 batters and walked only 5 in 24 innings. On August 17, Deshazier struck out 11 of the 22 batters he faced in 5.2 shutout innings.

Low-A Lexington

Player of the Year: Frank Schwindel – 428 PA, .286/.313/.515

As an 18th round pick in 2013, Schwindel didn’t open the season with very much hype. He also isn’t likely to find his way into the national spotlight, but it isn’t as though he didn’t try to do so. He clubbed 20 home runs and collected 29 doubles for the Legends, all while throwing out 40% of would-be basestealers.

Pitcher of the Year: Jake Junis – 22 GS, 136 IP, 7.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 4.30 ERA

Obviously the ERA isn’t too shiny, but Junis still had a good season…at least for the first three months. At the end of June, his ERA was 3.15, but it ballooned up to 7.15 in his last 9 appearances, in large part due to 7 home runs allowed in 39 innings. Still, the former 29th rounder had solid peripherals, and a handful of rough starts (he ended the year allowing 2 runs in his last 12 innings) shouldn’t diminish what was a strong season overall.