St. Petersburg — The Tampa Bay Rays Rays announced their organizational awards winners before Friday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
Left-hander Blake Snell was honored with the Don Zimmer Award as the club’s Most Valuable Player. Utility man Joey Wendle was named the Outstanding Rookie.
Outfielder Mallex Smith, who was also the team’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee, was named the Paul C. Smith Champion Award which is given to the player who “best exemplifies the spirit of true professionalism on and off the field.”
Snell, who is also a contender for the American League Cy Young Award, currently leads the AL in wins (21) and ERA (1.90). Wendle is among the rookie league leaders in average (.300, 1st), on-base percentage (.354, 2nd), hits (144, 3rd), doubles (32, 3rd) and triples (6, tied for 1st).
Minor League Awards
On the minor league side, infielder Nate Lowe and left-handed starter Brock Burke were named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
Other organization-wide awards include nfielder Vidal Bruján (Baserunner of the Year), lefthander Colin Poche (Reliever of the Year) and infielder Taylor Walls (Defensive Player of the Year). Outfielder Carl Chester was named the Erik Walker Community Champion for his charitable efforts.
Lowe, ranked as the organization’s No. 13 overall prospect by MLB.com, batted .330 (159-for-482) with 27 home runs and 102 RBI in 130 games between High-A Charlotte, Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham. Burke, 22, went 9-6 with a 3.08 ERA in 25 appearances between Charlotte and Montgomery. He led all Rays minor leaguers with 158 strikeouts in 137 innings pitched.
Individual level MVPs:
Durham Bulls (AAA): 3B Kean Wong
Montgomery Biscuits (AA): 2B Nick Solak
Charlotte Stone Crabs (High-A): OF Jesús Sánchez
Bowling Green Hot Rods (Class-A): C Ronaldo Hernández
Hudson Valley Renegades (Short-A): C Chris Betts
Princeton Rays (Rookie): SS Wander Franco
Gulf Coast League Rays (Rookie) INF Kaleo Johnson
Dominican Summer League Rays: RHP Matthew Peguero (1), INF Abiezel Ramírez (2)
