•San Antonio Minor League Hitter of the Year: C
Ramón Hernández(AA)
•San Antonio Minor League Pitcher of the Year: MR
Mario Chávez (AA)
C Ramón Hernández is the Calzones Minor League Hitter of the Year for 2019. The 22 year old left handed hitting catcher batted .280 with 25 HR and 85 RBI in 110 games for AA Monterey. In 2018, he had batted .261 with 20 HR and 58 RBI in 101 games at AA Monterey, so he has proven to be a consistent power threat the last few seasons. His defense showed some signs of improvement this season, but he'll never be confused with Dan Glenn behind the plate.
Hernández epitomizes the Calzones farm system, where we will look under every rock for those players overlooked and unloved by other organizations. Guys like Jorge Mojica, whom we traded to Omaha in the Coronado deal, who is turning into a solid player at the PEBA level.
Hernández solid season at AA earned him a call up to serve as the Calzones third catcher in September, and we have even handed him a couple of starts to see how he handles PEBA pitching. Hernández path to a big league job is blocked in our system, but we are very open to the idea of moving him in a trade in order to get him an opportunity to play elsewhere.
MR Mario Chávez is the Calzones Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and he is winning the award for the second consecutive season. Much like Hernandez, Chávez epitomizes the Calzones minor league system, where you don't necessarily have to have the prettiest colors on your scouting reports to get an opportunity. The 21 year old southpaw was 3-3 with 17 saves in 53 appearances, sporting a 3.04 ERA and striking out 61 in 53.1 innings. The 3.04 ERA was actually the highest of Chávez's career in a full season, and his combined career ERA at the three lowest levels of the minors is 1.93. He has been exceptionally hard to hit at those levels, allowing just 136 hits in 196.1 innings. While striking out 217 over those same innings. The question mark has always been the control, as he has walked 83 over those innings. But he has been so difficult to hit, and keeps the ball in the park so well, that the walks usually don't hurt him. The other big question has been with his young age, whether he will be able to carry that success over to higher levels. He only made one appearance at AAA late this season, but struck out the side. He has been brought up to San Antonio and is being used in a situational lefty role down the stretch so we can get a little more look at him. He likely starts next season at Joplin, where we will continue grooming him for what will likely be a situational lefty role at the PEBA level in a season or two, should he continue to have success.
