Announcing Your 2018 Atlanta Braves MiLB Players of the Year

Per Twitter, David O’Brien of the Athletic Atlanta announced the Braves minor league players of the year for each level.

Triple A:

Kolby Allard - This was a pretty easy call since Lucas Sims was shipped off. Allard led the Stripers in innings pitched with a 112 and posted a cool 2.72 ERA.

Austin Riley - While Riley only played 75 games at AAA, he made his presence felt in a big way. Even with missing a month to a knee injury and the time it took to shake off the rust, he still posted 19 home runs across 3 levels. Riley’s slash line .294/.360/.522 was the highest since his draft year of 2015. There likely could be an argument for Michael Reed, but you won’t hear it from us.

Double-A:

Touki Toussaint - Touki beat out Kyle Wright and Enderson Franco for this award. There should be no doubt about this as Touki took a huge leap forward in his development and is now currently sitting on the Braves. Touki put up some monster numbers all year, and across AA/AAA he posted a 1.13 WHIP and a 2.38 ERA to go along with 163 strikeouts.

Travis Demeritte - Looking at AA stats it really has to be Demeritte even with a .222 batting average. He was first on the team in home runs, triples, RBI and walks.

High-A:

Ian Anderson - The Braves have handled Anderson very carefully, and it looks to have paid off. Anderson reached a new high in innings pitched with 119.1 and was a nighmare for batters as he struck out 142. His 1.14 WHIP and 2.49 ERA across 2 levels and you can see why the Braves reportedly struck down 3 deals this trade deadline that involved Ian Anderson.

Cristian Pache - It feels like Pache is the next big thing, and this won’t be the last time that Pache wins awards. His slash line of .285/.311/.431 continues to be a step in the right direction. Hopefully the walks will come to boost that OBP.

Low-A:

Hayden Deal - Deal was an undrafted signee from 2017. He really came into his own this year, and this wasn’t likely an easy pick for the Braves to make since there was also Ynoa and Tarnok. He mostly pitched out of the pen, but did make a handful of starts. He posted a 1.00 WHIP and a 2.17 ERA all the while striking out a smidge better than a batter an inning.

Drew Waters - Unlike Deal, this was a hands down no brainer. Waters was just an extra base machine this season with 57 across 2 levels. Waters also finished with a slash line of .293/.349/.476.

Short-A:

Dilmer Mejia - Mejia pitched across 3 levels, but spent most of his time at Danville. He had a solid season. His overall numbers aren’t great, but posted solid numbers for Danville including a 1.29 WHIP and 2.87 ERA. Matt Rowland and Tanner Allison were also deserving too.

Greg Cullen - We have our first 2018 draftee winning an award. This isn’t a surprise for some as Cullen can certainly hit. His slash line of .280/.373/.396 is pretty nice. He also had a 1:1 ration of walks to strikeouts. Before anyone asks, CJ Alexander likely didn’t spend enough time at Danville (or Florida) to win player of the year.

GCL:

Miguel Jerez - Jerez led the team in many statistical categories, but the most impressive has to be his 8 walks in 57.2 innings. He finished the GCL with a 1.21 WHIP and a 3.90 ERA.

Jeremy Fernandez - The 21 year old CF should have dominated the GCL and for the most part did that. He led the team in home runs with 8 and put up a good slash line of .281/.322/.492. It’s surprising he didn’t earn a promotion as he was a bit old for the league for an international sign.

DSL:

Jose Olague - Not much to say here. DSL was a disaster for the most part. No big international signings, so the expectations were already low. Olague was at least decent with a 1.29 WHIP and a 2.43 ERA. 11 walks in 66.2 innings was a standout stat.

Carlos Paraguate - Again, not much to see here. Paraguate had a slash line of .226/.337/.279. He did lead the team with 20 stolen bases.