Arizona Diamondbacks 2018 minor league awards
The Arizona Diamondbacks missed out on the 2018 postseason, but they saw a number of positive strides in the farm system in 2018.
As part of our continuing coverage at Call to the Pen of the minor leagues, we will be covering each organization’s top players for 2018. The coverage will go in reverse order of record. Today, we will look at the Arizona Diamondbacks.
We are going to review the system’s leaders for each organization statistically, then choose one hitter and one pitcher to honor for every team. This will be primarily based on statistical performance, though some “age relative to level” could come into play, so a very impressive season from a 28-year-old in AA will rank below a nearly as impressive season from a 20-year-old at the same level.
After we review each organization’s hitter and pitcher of the year, we will close out October with Call To The Pen’s Minor League team of the year. That will lead into November starting our team top 10 prospect lists. In other words, there will be plenty of minor league content on the way at CTTP, so keep coming back for more each day this offseason!!
Arizona Diamondbacks minor leagues
Voted the worst farm system in the major leagues by near-consensus in the 2016-2017 offseason, the Diamondbacks have made big strides to add talent to their farm system, and their top 10 prospect list to come this offseason will be much more intriguing to put together.
The system also got some tremendous performances from multiple players beyond just the top prospects as well. The organization is still significantly behind the top teams in its division in farm system, but strides have definitely have been made.
Before we offer up awards on the season, let’s take a look at the system’s statistical leaders:
Organization Leaders (min. 150 PA, 50 IP)
BA: Zack Shannon .354
OBP: Zack Shannon .439
SLG: Zack Shannon .677
OPS: Zack Shannon 1.116
R: Socrates Brito 85
H: Ildemaro Vargas
2B: Socrates Brito, Drew Ellis 34
3B: Ildemaro Vargas 10
HR: Jazz Chisholm 25
RBI: Kevin Cron 97
SB: Jorge Barrosa 39
TB: Ildemaro Vargas 239
W: Taylor Clarke 13
G: Kevin Ginkel 54
GS: Three with 27
IP: Jake Buchanan 156 2/3
SV: Jimmie Sherfy 15
K: Taylor Widener 176
ERA: Kevin Ginkel 1.41
WHIP: Kevin Ginkel 0.83
K/9: Kevin Ginkel 12.9
K/BB: Bryan Valdez 59.0
Let’s look at the award winners…
Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Hitter of the Year: Socrates Brito
Level(s): AAA Reno, MLB Diamondbacks
Stats: Minors: .318/.383/.540, 114 G, 478 PA, 34 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 15 SB, 44/104 BB/K; Majors: .175/.227/.250, 24 G, 44 PA, 1 HR, 3/9 BB/K
The Arizona Diamondbacks have seemingly been waiting on Socrates Brito for a half decade. One of the few potential major league players in the farm system 2-3 years ago, Brito has had eyes on him for many Diamondbacks fans who saw him atop the team’s prospect rankings.
The issue is that Brito is really more of a fourth outfielder that does a lot of things okay, but doesn’t really do any one thing well. His PCL-aided numbers were still quite solid, and he filled up the stat sheet enough to earn the nod as the top bat in the system for 2018.
Runners-up
The best holdover prospect by quite some ways (though recent IFA signees may challenge for the #1 overall slot in the system), Jazz Chisholm has been a guy with a ton of potential for a few seasons since signing out of the Bahamas. In 2018, he fulfilled that potential, hitting a combined .272/.329/.513 with 23 doubles, 25 home runs, and 17 steals. Chisholm has some swing and miss to work through still, but he should open 2019 at AA at 21, which puts him on pace to open 2020 in Arizona.
A mammoth first baseman, Kevin Cron actually hit less home runs in the PCL in 2018, but he focused on rounding out his game, hitting .309/.368/.554 with 28 doubles and 22 home runs. He could be a quad-A player that struggles to find a major league home, but Cron has been a very impressive performer in the upper minors that could do well in the right place where he’d get a job at the starting job.
After 7 seasons with the Cardinals organization, Ildemaro Vargas signed with the Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent before the 2015 season. He’s worked his way up the farm system and had a brilliant year of hitting in 2018 with Reno, hitting .311/.358/.445 with 31 doubles, 10 triples, 7 homers, and 10 stolen bases.
Rudy Flores has really stalled in the Diamondbacks organization. In his 7th season in the organization, he spent his third year in the upper minors, hitting .281/.381/.468 with 25 doubles and 17 home runs for AA Jackson.
Catcher Daulton Varsho missed some time over the 2018 season, but when he was on the field, he was a joy to watch. Varsho is a rare catcher in his level of athleticism at the position. On the season, Varsho played 83 games, hitting .294/.367/.475 with 13 doubles, 4 triples, 12 home runs, and 19 stolen bases over 354 plate appearances.
The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Zack Shannon in the 15th round this past June. Based on his pro debut, they may have gotten a steal. Shannon was assigned to Missoula in the advanced rookie Pioneer League, and he did nothing but rake, hitting .354/.439/.677 in 54 games, bashing 17 doubles and 14 home runs and driving in 55 runs.
Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Taylor Widener
Level(s): AA Jackson
Stats: 5-8, 26 G, 25 GS, 137 1/3 IP, 2.75 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 43/176 BB/K
Acquired from the New York Yankees as part of the deal that also brought Steven Souza to the major league club, Widener was often missed as part of that trade, but no one is missing him now after a season where he was absolutely dominant on the mound.
Widener is not built like an ace, standing just 6′ and around 200 pounds, but he has the stuff to take over like an ace and to project as a very high-level mid-rotation starter and possible staff ace for the right team. Widener will be faced with the PCL in 2019, which could look rough on Widener due to his fly ball tendencies on the mound, but looking to context-driven statistics would be wise to gauge how Widener is handling 2019 because it’s quite feasible that he finishes the 2019 season in the major league rotation.
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Runners-up
A 22nd round selection in 2016, Kevin Ginkel had an up-and-down 2017 season, but his 2018 was pure dominance between high-A and AA. He posted a combined 1.41 ERA and 0.84 WHIP on 70 innings of relief work that he posted a 12/100 BB/K ratio. Ginkel’s dominance could factor into the makeup of the 2019 Diamondbacks bullpen coming out of spring, but even if he opens in AAA, he could work to the major league pen quickly in the season if he continues his 2018 dominance.
After slowly working his way up the system and even repeating low-A in 2017, Emilio Vargas finally found his stride in 2018. He spent most of the season in high-A before finishing with a half-dozen games in AA. Combined between the levels, he posted a 2.88 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 49/170 BB/K ratio over 143 2/3 innings.
The Arizona Diamondbacks 16th round selection in the 2017 draft, Jeff Bain has moved quickly, pitching across both A-ball levels in 2018. He combined between the two levels to make 25 starts, tossing 138 innings with a 2.93 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 40/127 BB/K ratio. He’s not a strikeout-dominant pitcher, but he allowed just 5 home runs over the season with a very solid ground ball approach that could work at the back of a rotation down the road.
Next. Nationals minor league awards. dark
The Arizona Diamondbacks fell off hard at the end of the season at the major league level, and many are discussing the Diamondbacks as a potential rebuild this offseason. If they do, there at least is a baseline of talent in the system now, which was not as much the case just a pair of offseasons ago.