Pair of ‘Dads Win End of Year Awards

Hickory, NC- The Texas Rangers announced their 2022 Organizational Awards on Friday afternoon, with a pair of Crawdads picking up honors. Evan Carter was named the Tom Grieve Player of the Year while Thomas Saggese won the True Ranger Award.

Carter, an outfielder, hit .295 with 12 homeruns, 10 triples, 21 doubles, 73 RBIs, 86 runs, and 28 stolen bases this year. The 20-year-old played 100 of his 106 games with the Crawdads this season. He was also named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America.

Saggese was named the winner of the organization’s True Ranger Award, which highlights a player who represents the core values of the organization in a positive light both on and off the field. He led qualifying Ranger minor leaguers with a .312 batting average this season. Saggese, also just 20 years old, hit 15 homeruns and drove in 70 between Hickory and Frisco.

Following the end of the Crawdads season, Saggese and Carter were both promoted to Double-A Frisco where they helped guide the team to win the Texas League Championship. Saggese hit a game-tying single in the ninth inning of Frisco’s championship-clinching game while Carter added on the final two runs in the tenth, which ended up being the game winning runs.

Two other former Crawdads were also named winners. Cole Ragans (2021 Crawdad) is the Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year and Jonathan Ornelas (2019 & 2021 Crawdad) is the Defender of the Year.