I think I need to explain the title. After Triple-A and Double-A, there are full-season Single-A teams in each minor league system. The leagues are the Carolina League, California League, Florida State League, Midwest League, and South Atlantic League. These players made a minor league team out of spring training, while the rest have to wait for short season A ball to start.

Full Season A 2014 Hitter of the Year

Rudy Flores Visalia 2014This can be none other than Rudy Flores (Haymarket 2010), a 21st round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012. Rudy tore up the California League in 2014, hitting 301/354/528, with 76 runs, 35 doubles, 28 home runs, and 100 RBIs. He struck out a ton, 189 times against 33 walks, but overall, Rudy is easily the hitter of the year for the level. Those power numbers are pretty awesome!

Others under consideration:

Team League G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB Avg. OBP SLG OPS
Rudy Flores Visalia California 132 525 76 158 35 0 28 100 33 189 3 0.301 0.354 0.528 0.882
Sean Buckley Dayton/Bakersfield Mid/Cal 85 323 51 89 18 0 13 59 18 84 8 0.276 0.328 0.452 0.780
S. Johnson Inland Empire California 136 529 107 146 23 13 17 78 88 104 26 0.276 0.382 0.465 0.847
Tyler White Quad Cities/Lan Mid/Cal 114 389 69 113 33 2 15 64 63 67 0 0.290 0.410 0.501 0.911


Sherman Johnson (Covington 2009-2010) is clearly in 2nd place. He had a super year, showing both power and patience in the Cal League.  Sean Buckley (Staunton 2009-2010) finally has had a close-to-full season after a number of injuries, and Tyler White (Haymarket 2010), Rudy Flores’s teammate in Northern Virginia, had a fantastic OBP after walking 63 times in 114 games.

Full Season A 2014 Pitcher of the Year

Wow, this is tough. I think I could make the case for several of these pitchers. However, due to his performance overChad Kuhl 2014 Bradenton head shot 28 starts in the tougher Florida State League, our pitcher of the year is Chad Kuhl (New Market 2012)! Drafted in the 9th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chad dutifully took the mound all season for Bradenton, and pitched excellently.

He went 13-5, 3.46, with a 2.5 BB/9, 5.9 K/9, and 1.19 WHIP in 153 1/3 innings pitched. And as this article states, Kuhl has the potential to be a solid middle-of-the-rotation pitcher for the Pirates down the road.

Other Excellent Seasons

Team League W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO BB9 K9 WHIP
B. Sinnery Visalia California 14 7 4.02 28 28 0 170.3 175 92 76 44 109 2.33 5.76 1.29
Chris Devenski Lancaster California 5 5 4.11 17 11 2 76.7 70 42 35 12 77 1.41 9.04 1.07
Julio Felix West Michigan Midwest 3 2 3.38 44 0 13 77.3 70 31 29 15 71 1.75 8.27 1.10
H. Cooney Burlington Midwest 9 8 2.65 25 22 1 129.0 108 50 38 51 91 3.56 6.35 1.23
Ben Carlson Burlington Midwest 3 2 2.60 52 0 14 65.7 69 27 19 17 62 2.33 8.49 1.31
Chad Kuhl Bradenton Florida State 13 5 3.46 28 28 0 153.3 141 67 59 42 100 2.47 5.87 1.19
Chris Nunn Lake Elsinore California 4 2 4.29 49 0 0 58.7 52 31 28 25 76 3.83 11.65 1.31
Matt Brazis High Desert California 3 0 2.98 23 0 4 39.3 34 15 13 8 50 1.83 11.45 1.07
Emilio Pagan Clinton Midwest 2 3 2.89 42 0 16 56.0 43 19 18 14 62 2.25 9.96 1.02
Iden Nazario Palm Beach Florida State 5 1 2.72 39 0 4 56.3 46 18 17 24 56 3.84 8.95 1.24
Kevin Herget Peoria/Palm Beach Mid/Flor St 8 3 2.71 42 1 4 76.3 67 32 23 29 94 3.42 11.09 1.26

Brandon Sinnery (Winchester 2009), a non-drafted free agent signee, also started 28 games… Kevin Herget (Strasburg 2012), Chris Nunn (Winchester 2010) and Matt Brazis (Winchester 2009, 2011) all have a K/9 over 11.0… Harrison Cooney (Front Royal 2012) has the lowest ERA on the list… Emilio Pagan (Harrisonburg 2010) has the lowest WHIP (in 56 innings).