Anderson Named TL Pitcher of the Year; Featherston & Adames All-Stars
Tulsa's Tyler Anderson has been named the 2014 Texas League Pitcher of the Year. Anderson becomes only the fourth Tulsa hurler to win the award since the Drillers franchise entered the Texas League in 1977.
The lefthander was also named to the TL's Post-Season All-Star Team. He was joined on the squad by Tulsa teammates Cristhian Adames and Taylor Featherston. Adames was named the shortstop on the team, while Featherston received a spot as utility infielder.
Alex Yarbrough of Arkansas was named the Player of the Year. The end of year awards and all-star team are determined through voting by league managers, coaches, broadcasters and beat writers.
Anderson joins Danny Smith (1992), Jeff Francis (2004) and Samuel Deduno (2009) as the only Drillers pitchers to be named Texas League Pitchers of the Year.
Anderson will enter his final start of the regular season this weekend with the best ERA in the league. His 2.08 mark is tops by over half a run. In addition, his 1.15 WHIP is third best in the league and his .224 opponent's batting average is second best among all TL starters. Anderson has also registered 100 strikeouts.
Since July 1, Anderson has given up only five runs in eight starts, compiling a 1.00 ERA. He has not surrendered a run in five of his last seven outings, and for the season, has allowed one run or less in 15 of his 22 starts.
Featherston has put together on of the top all-around offensive seasons in the Texas League while splitting time at second base and shortstop. His 124 hits are the fifth most in the league. The TCU product currently leads the Drillers in four other key offensive categories - 32 doubles, 16 home runs, 212 total bases and 57 runs batted in.
Adames helped the Drillers win their third straight first-half North Division title before receiving a promotion to Triple A on July 19. At the time of his promotion, he was hitting .276 with 15 extra-base hits and a team-leading 37 runs batted in.
He played three different infield positions for the Drillers and committed only 12 errors in 84 games.
It is the second straight season that Adames has been selected as the shortstop on the Texas League Post-Season All-Star Team.
All of the All-Stars and award winners are listed below.
2014 Texas League Post-Season All Star Team
1B Trever Adams, Frisco
2B Alex Yarbrough, Arkansas
3B Joey Gallo, Frisco
SS Cristhian Adames, Tulsa
UT Taylor Featherston, Tulsa
UT Odubel Herrera, Frisco
OF Lane Adams, Northwest Arkansas
OF Yeison Asencio, San Antonio
OF James Ramsey, Springfield
OF Preston Tucker, Corpus Christi
DH Brian Hernandez, Arkansas
C Cody Stanley, Springfield
P Tyler Anderson, Tulsa
P Cam Bedrosian, Arkansas
P Andy Ferguson, Northwest Arkansas
P Chris Jensen, Midland
P James Needy, San Antonio
P Michael Roth, Arkansas
P Tommy Shirley, Corpus Christi
Texas League Manager of the Year - Jason Wood, Frisco
Texas League Pitcher of the Year - Tyler Anderson, Tulsa
Texas League Player of the Year - Alex Yarbrough, Arkansas
Mike Coolbaugh Texas League Coach of the Year - Jeff Andrews, Frisco