Padres Minor League Awards For July

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Mandatory Credit: El Paso Times.

The Padres have announced the winners of their minor league awards for the month of July. There are 4 of these awards that are given out each month. They’re what you’d expect, top hitter, top pitcher, top baserunner and top fielder. For us Friar fanatics, we get a little glimpse of the future (which pretty much all we can cling on to at this point) with the announcement of these awards. We get to see who the Padres themselves believe are the most adept at each facet of the game.

The winners for the month of July are Marcus Davis as the top hitter, Elvin Lirano the top pitcher, Mallex Smith the top baserunner and Trea Turner rounding it out as the top defensive player. Of the 4 only Turner has cracked MLB.com’s top 20 Padre prospects, but that should be viewed in a more positive than negative light. It shows off the tremendous depth that fills out the entirety of the Padres system.

Mandatory Credit: MiLB.com

Top Hitter: Marcus Davis (Single-A Short Season):

Davis has spent all of 2014 with the Lake Elsinore Storm where he has dominated. He has hit .337/.429/.577 in 49 games this year, but last month he elevated his game after an already strong start. He must have felt like Padres legend Tony Gwyn out there hitting .402/.465/.667 in his 28 games in July. He also added 4 homers and a whopping 18 doubles to that impressive slash line.

There wasn’t huge expectations for Davis year. Rather than bumping him up to Low-A Fort Wayne they decided to leave him with Short Season Eugene, which limited his playing time with the late start to the season. The Padres are now beginning to see that their 24th round pick from a year ago is far more polished than they previously thought. While it may only be one single month, he was able to play at a level far beyoind the average player in the short season leagues. It’s probably too late for any call-up to have any impact on his future, but hopefully he’s played a way into the franchise’s future plans.

Mandatory Credit: Arizona Tourism and Events

Top Pitcher: Elvin Liriano (Arizona League):

Despite all the talk about top prospect Rymer Liriano and the impact he is and going to have, another Liriano is quietly making a name for himself. Elvin Liriano has been with the Padres organization since 2011 and failed to impress in his first 3 years with the club. They didn’t see enough to move him up out of rookie ball, but they saw just enough not to give up on him completely. That patience is starting to pay off in 2014. Aftyer a strong June to open the year he blew everyone away in July allowing just 2 runs over 15 innings to the tune of a 1.20 ERA. He also punched out 21 batters and and hitters where only able to hit .132 off of him.

Even though he’s in his 4th season with the Padres’ organization he’s still only 21-years-old. At that age he’s got plenty of time to build on his strong 2014 and have it translate into a big league career way down the line. Like Davis, he’s starting to force his way into the Padres future and will be a guy to watch going forward.

Top Baserunner: Mallex Smith (Class A Advanced)

With Billy Hamilton finally moving on to the big leagues someone had to take the reigns as minor leagues top base stealer. That person happens to be Padres’ prospect Mallex Smith. Smith has swiped 80 bags so far in 2014, but his effort in July trumps everything else he’s done thus far. Last month he was successful in 25 of his 32 attempts to help pad his already impressive total.

It’s not just elite speed that makes a great base stealer, it’s instincts and the ability to read the pitcher. Those same instincts are also what helps make Smith not just a great baserunner, but the Padres’ best baserunner. While I don’t have any stats to prove that he has those instincts other than his stolen base total, I trust the Padres evaluation of him as a top tier baserunner. Guys with great speed can utilize it to elevate their game like we’ve seen with Billy Hamilton this season, but it can’t be your only tool. A guy like Quentin Berry comes to mind. He comes around every September to be the pinch runner in tight games for a contender. Although he did get a ring out of it last year, I’m sure the Padres would prefer to see Smith’s career follow the trajectory of Hamilton rather than Berry.

Mandatory Credit: milb.com

Top Defender: Trea Turner (Single-A Low):

The guy who has caught everyone’s eye this year in the minors has been 2014 top pick Trea Turner. The shortstop out of NC State was picked 13th overall by the Padres has done nothing but back up that decision. While most people might focus in on his .327 batting average across 2 levels of A ball the Padres are trying to make sure you don’t sleep on his defense. He made all the plays in the month of July quite literally. He failed to commit a single error all last month.

Padres Hand Out July’s Minor League Awards

Schedule