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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Sporting News tabs Hellickson minor league pitcher of the year

Posted Sep 9, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 9, 2010 at 01:35 PM

For the third straight day Rays rookie right-hander Jeremy Hellickson has received a top award from a national publication.

Hellickson, named the minor league player of the year by USA Today and Baseball America, was named today as The Sporting News minor league pitcher of the year.

Here is the skinny on Hellickson and the rest of TSN’s winners ...

Pitcher of the year
Jeremy Hellickson, Rays
With any other organization, Hellickson likely wouldn’t even be eligible for this award. But the big league rotation is stacked, so he started 21 games at Class AAA Durham, going 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 117 2/ 3 innings. He went 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA for the big club in August—and was called up again in September.

Rays director of minor league operations Mitch Lukevics says: “He’s had tremendous success—his strikeouts-to-walk ratio is basically 5:1, and he’s allowed (105) less hits than innings pitched in his career. His focus remained the same this year. He knew he had things to work on, and even with his success, you can still refine what you’re doing. He continued to work better fastball location, the sharpness of his breaking ball, and he worked on his changeup. He certainly proved that was well worth his time as he came to the big leagues and showed his ability.”

Hitter of the year
Mike Moustakas, Royals
Moustakas, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft, bounced back from a rough 2009 campaign with a .347 average, 21 homers, 76 RBIs and a 1.100 OPS in 66 Class AA games before he was promoted to AAA Omaha, where he lifted his season totals to 36 homers and 124 RBIs. Look for him in the majors in 2011.

Royals assistant G.M. of scouting and player development J.J. Picollo says: “Mike has great eye-hand coordination, tremendous power and has really learned to hit the ball the other way when the ball is pitched away. He’s done a great job this year recognizing pitches and laying off the ones out of the zone, and when he gets the pitch he’s looking for, he’s doing something with it. Defensively, he’s got great feet, a tremendous arm, and we feel he can be a Ken Caminiti type of defensive player.”

Rookie of the year (2010 draft pick)
Chris Sale, White Sox
A tall (6-5), hard-throwing lefty, Sale, 21, was the 13th overall pick of the 2010 draft out of Florida Gulf Coast University. He pitched in four games at high Class A Winston-Salem and seven at Class AAA Charlotte before getting the call to join the White Sox’s bullpen. In his first 12 big-league games, Sale has a 0.66 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.

White Sox director of player development Buddy Bell says: “From the beginning, Kenny (Williams, the Sox’s G.M.) is really the one who pushed this through. He felt all along that Chris could help the major league club at some point this year. The thing about Chris is he’s a very mature kid. He has no fear at all. He’s competitive. He pitches in the mid-90s, and he’s throwing his breaking ball and changeup for strikes. That’s an unusual combination for any young pitcher. The plan all along is to get him back into the rotation, but he’s been so successful out of the bullpen. That’s a good problem to have.”

All-minor league team
C Wil Myers, Royals. One of many elite Royals prospects, he blitzed through Class A and high-A as a 19-year-old this season. ETA: 2013

1B Brandon Belt, Giants. He hit .383 with a 1.121 OPS at high Class A, then .337 with a 1.036 at AA, ending the season with 13 games at AAA. ETA: 2011

2B Brett Lawrie, Brewers. He had an excellent offensive season (.285, 63 RBIs, 30 stolen bases) as a 20-year-old at Class AA Huntsville while improving his defense. ETA: 2012

SS Nick Franklin, Mariners. It’s hard not to be impressed by a 19-year-old shortstop who produces 20-plus homers and 20-plus stolen bases at Class A. ETA: 2013

3B Brandon Laird, Yankees. He hit 23 homers and had 90 RBIs and a .291 average in 107 games at Class AA before the Yankees bumped him up a level to AAA. ETA: 2011

OF Domonic Brown, Phillies. Philly’s top prospect had a .327 average, 20 homers, 17 stolen bases and a .980 OPS combined at AA and AAA before joining the parent club. ETA: Already there

OF Mike Trout, Angels. The star of the Futures Game, he hit .362 with 45 stolen bases at Class A as an 18-year-old before earning a promotion. ETA: 2012

OF Jerry Sands, Dodgers. A 25th-round pick in 2008, he hit .333 with 18 homers at Class A before adding 17 more at AA. ETA: 2012

SP Julio Teheran, Braves. He dominated at three levels this season (A, high-A and AA) at age 19, averaging more than 10 strikeouts and fewer than seven hits per nine innings. ETA: 2012

RP Tim Collins, Royals. He stands only 5-7, but the flame-throwing lefty blew away hitters (almost 14 strikeouts per nine innings) for three organizations (Toronto, Atlanta and Kansas City) this year. ETA: 2011