Next, we have the Valley League alumni who performed the best in Double-A:

Double-A Hitter of the Year

Cory Spangenberg PadresThis one wasn’t such a tough call, even though there are a couple other strong candidates. The 2014 Double-A hitter of the year is Cory Spangenberg (Winchester 2010)! Cory, aside from making his major league debut for the Padres in September, had a very good season in Double-A San Antonio. He hit 331/365/470 in 66 games and 281 at-bats, along with 17 doubles, 8 triples, 2 home runs, 38 runs scored, and 22 RBIs. His BB/K rate could be stronger, at 15/63, but overall, Cory’s season is the best.

Others of Note (and Cory’s stats, too):

Team League G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg. OBP SLG OPS
Cory Spangenberg San Antonio Texas 66 281 38 93 17 8 2 22 15 63 14 9 0.331 0.365 0.470 0.835
Sean Jamieson Mobile Southern 91 329 56 98 18 5 5 33 31 61 6 7 0.298 0.362 0.429 0.791
Ryan Schimpf New Hampshire Eastern 50 185 35 50 17 1 15 37 28 56 3 0 0.270 0.370 0.616 0.986
Jacob Wilson Springfield Texas 36 131 15 40 13 0 5 21 11 23 3 1 0.305 0.366 0.519 0.885

Sean Jamieson (Front Royal 2010) has a solid season until he got injured. Ryan Schimpf (Luray 2008) hit for a ton of power (15 home runs in only 50 games!), and Jacob Wilson (Luray 2009) was super at the level, but also dealt with injuries. Wilson also spent time in High-A ball for the Cardinals.

Double-A Pitcher of the Year

Another close call (which is a good thing, right?), but the 2014 Double-A pitcher of the year is Drew Rucinski (Luray Drew Rucinski LA Angels headshot 20142009-2010)! If you’ve read these pages before, you know that Drew has had a noteworthy career. Signed by the Indians as a free agent after college, Drew was released after just one season in the minors. He toiled in the Independent Leagues for a couple years, and then signed with the Los Angeles Angels, where he then took off, and made his major league debut in 2014.

Well, his 2014 Double-A stats were the best from our alumni, as he went 10-6, 3.15, with 41 walks and 140 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings pitched. He did not appear in relief; all 26 of his games were starts. His BB/9, at 2.5, and his K/9, at 8.5, are excellent for starters. Also helping his case is that he pitched almost 100 more innings than the others under consideration.

Speaking of which:

Team League W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO BB9 K9 WHIP
Drew Rucinski Arkansas Texas 10 6 3.15 26 26 0 148.7 142 61 52 7 41 140 2.48 8.47 1.23
Greg Nappo Jacksonville Southern 2 0 1.73 34 0 1 46.7 28 9 9 4 7 40 1.35 7.71 0.75
Jack Leathersich Binghamton Eastern 3 3 2.93 37 0 1 46.0 38 17 15 1 21 79 4.11 15.46 1.28
Stephen Kohlscheen Jackson Southern 1 1 2.25 23 0 6 32.0 31 10 8 4 4 33 1.13 9.28 1.09
Matt Brazis Jackson Southern 1 1 1.64 17 0 2 33.0 20 6 6 1 10 34 2.73 9.27 0.91
Kaleb Fleck Mobile Southern 7 3 2.56 56 0 17 63.3 55 18 18 4 28 79 3.98 11.23 1.31

All of the others are relievers, and very good ones, too. Nappo (Haymarket 2010) and Leathersich (Haymarket 2009) just missed being teammates. Kohlscheen (Harrisonburg 2010) also threw very well in Triple-A in 2014, for both the Seattle and San Diego organizations (he was traded at the end of July). Brazis (Winchester 2009, 2011) was also traded by the Seattle organization, to the Cubs, but after the season. Fleck (Waynesboro 2008, 2010) was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Padres, and has rewarded the team with three solid minor league seasons.