On Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the club’s selections for 2010 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year honors, tabbing right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller (1st round, 2009) and third baseman Matt Carpenter (13th round, 2009).
“Both Matt and Shelby are very deserving of their awards,” said Cardinals Farm Director John Vuch. “Their statistics and on-field success are obvious and played a major role in their selection, but equally important was their work ethic and aptitude, which enabled them to continue to improve as the season progressed. Their awards reflect the combination of their talent and their determination to maximize that talent. We’re very excited to watch both of them continue to progress in their careers.”
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| Shelby Miller |
Miller, who turned 20 in October, made 24 starts for Class-A Quad Cities, posting a 7-5 record with a 3.62 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 104.1 innings pitched. Miller’s 140 strikeouts ranked 4th in the Midwest League and 2nd among Cardinals minor league pitchers. His 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio was tops among all Cardinals pitchers.
The 19th overall selection in the 2009 draft out of Brownwood (TX) High School, Miller was recognized as the Cardinals No. 1 prospect by Baseball America entering the season and was selected to the United States team in the 2010 Futures Game at Angels Stadium of Anaheim throwing 0.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit.
Miller was honored as the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July posting a 3-1 record in five starts with a 1.80 ERA through 25.0 IP with 34 SO. Miller’s best outing of the season came in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs when he struck out a career-high 13 batters over seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball in a 4-0 win at Kane County on September 8th.
Carpenter, 24, began the season playing 28 games at high-A Palm Beach before getting promoted to Springfield (AA) on May 10th, finishing the season with 105 games in the Texas League.
The 399th overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Texas Christian University batted .309 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI between Palm Beach and Springfield. He ranked fourth among Texas League batters with a .316 average, third in on-base percentage (.412) and fifth in runs scored (75). Carpenter was named Texas League Player of the Week twice (the weeks ending July 19th and August 2nd) and was selected to the North Squad for the Texas League All-Star game.
Carpenter led all Cardinals minor leaguers with 153 hits and 93 runs, while ranking fourth in batting, second in walks (90), fifth in doubles (31) and T-10th in home runs. Carpenter tallied 40 multi-hit games and batted .334 with 52 RBI with runners in scoring position.
A complete listing of the Cardinals’ Organizational Player and Pitcher of the Year Award selections since 1995 follows:
| YR |
Player of the
Year |
TEAM
(s) |
| 1995 |
Mike Gulan, 3B |
Louisville/Arkansas |
| 1996 |
Dmitri Young, INF |
Louisville |
| 1997 |
Brent Butler, INF |
Peoria |
| 1998 |
Pablo Ozuna, INF |
Peoria |
| 1999 |
Adam Kennedy, INF |
Memphis |
| 2000 |
Albert Pujols, 3B |
Peoria/Potomac |
| 2001 |
Covelli Crisp, OF |
Potomac
|
| 2002 |
John Gall, 1B |
New Haven |
| 2003 |
John Gall, 1B |
Tennessee/Memphis |
| 2004 |
Reid Gorecki, OF |
Palm Beach/Tenn. |
| 2005 |
Travis Hanson, 3B |
Springfield |
| 2006 |
Colby Rasmus, OF |
Quad Cities/PB |
| 2007 |
Colby Rasmus, OF |
Springfield |
| 2008 |
Daryl Jones, OF |
Palm Beach/Sprfld |
| 2009 |
Allen Craig, OF/IF |
Memphis |
| 2010 |
Matt Carpenter, 3B |
Palm Beach/Sprfld |
|
|
|
| YR |
Pitcher of the Year |
TEAM (s) |
| 1995 |
Mike Busby, RHP |
Louisville/Arkansas |
| 1996 |
Britt Reames, RHP |
Peoria |
| 1997 |
Cliff Politte, RHP |
Prince William/Ark. |
| 1998 |
Rick Ankiel, LHP |
Peoria/Prince William |
| 1999 |
Rick Ankiel, LHP |
Arkansas/Memphis |
| 2000 |
Bud Smith, LHP |
Arkansas/Memphis |
| 2001 |
Jimmy Journell, RHP |
Potomac/New Haven |
| 2002 |
Tyler Johnson, LHP |
Peoria |
| 2003 |
Dan Haren, RHP |
Tennessee/Memphis |
| 2004 |
Anthony Reyes, RHP |
Palm Beach/Tenn. |
| 2005 |
Mark Worrell, RHP |
Palm Beach |
| 2006 |
Blake
Hawksworth, RHP |
P. Beach/Sprfld |
| 2007 |
P.J. Walters, RHP |
Quad Cities/PB/Spfld |
| 2008 |
Jess Todd, RHP |
PB/Spfld/Memphis |
| 2009 |
Lance Lynn, RHP |
PB/Spfld/Memphis |
| 2010 |
Shelby Miller, RHP |
Quad
Cities |
Note: Click here to see the entire roster of The Cardinal Nation/Scout.com system-wide reliever, starter and position player award winners and by level for 2010.