Braves announce minor leaguers of the year

PEARL, MS -- The Atlanta Braves honored its 2013 minor league players and pitchers of the year Saturday, September 28 at Turner Field in Atlanta. Lucas Sims and Josh Elander were named Braves' organizational pitcher and player of the year. Right-handed pitcher Gus Schlosser and second baseman Tommy La Stella received the honors for the Double-A Mississippi club.

 

Other former M-Braves receiving the same honors at various levels included Joey Terdoslavich and David Hale, player and pitcher of the year for Triple-A Gwinnett; outfielder Robby Hefflinger, player of the year for High-A Lynchburg; and right-handed reliever Shae Simmons, pitcher of the year for Low-A Rome.

 

Sims and Elander were both selected by the Braves in the 2012 draft. Sims, a first-round pick, went 12-4 with a 2.62 ERA in 28 games and 18 starts for Low-A Rome this season. Elander, a sixth-round selection out of TCU hit .293 with 34 doubles, 15 homers and 93 RBI in 135 games between Low-A Rome and High-A Lynchburg.

 

Schlosser, 24, went 7-6 with a 2.39 ERA in 25 starts for the M-Braves. He finished the season with the third-best ERA in the Southern League. Schlosser was selected as a Southern League Mid-Season All-Star and was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week, 4/29-5/5. The righty picked up five consecutive wins, May 25-June 17, tying the previous longest win streak by an M-Braves starter. A native of Sarasota, FL, Schlosser was selected by the Braves in the 17th round of the 2011 draft out.

 

La Stella, 24, posted a .343 batting average in 81 games for the M-Braves. He hit .550 in seven games for High-A Lynchburg before moving up to Double-A Mississippi on May 6. In his Double-A debut, La Stella went 3-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and five RBI. The New Jersey native also strung together a 23-game hitting streak (34-88, .386) that ran from July 5 to August 5, breaking Carl Loadenthal's 2007 record of 20 games. La Stella was selected by the Braves in the eighth round of the 2011 draft.

 

Terdoslavich hit .318 in 85 games for Triple-A Gwinnett before receiving the call to the show in early July. He appeared in 55 regular-season games for the A-Braves. David Hale went 6-9 with a 3.22 ERA in 22 games, 20 starts, for the G-Braves. Hale made his MLB debut with the A-Braves on September 13, striking out nine while walking one and giving up just four hits in five innings.

 

Hefflinger was selected as a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star and was named Home Run Derby Champion and MVP of the California-Carolina League All-Star Game. He was leading the league in home runs (21), slugging percentage (.579), extra-base hits (39) and total bases (162) when he was promoted to Double-A Mississippi on June 29. Hefflinger was selected by the Braves in the seventh round of the 2009 draft.

 

Simmons went 1-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 39 appearances out of the Rome bullpen. When he was promoted to Double-A Mississippi on August 5, Simmons had not allowed an earned run since May 17. He led the Atlanta Braves organization with 24 saves on the season. Simmons was selected by the Braves in the 22nd round of the 2012 draft.

 

 

OVERALL

Organizational Pitcher of the Year: Lucas Sims

Organizational Player of the Year: Josh Elander

 

TRIPLE-A GWINNETT

Pitcher of the Year: David Hale

Player of the Year: Joey Terdoslavich

 

DOUBLE-A MISSISSIPPI

Pitcher of the Year: Gus Schlosser

Player of the Year: Tommy La Stella

 

HIGH-A LYNCHBURG

Pitcher of the Year: Williams Perez

Player of the Year: Robby Hefflinger

 

LOW-A ROME

Pitcher of the Year: Shae Simmons

Player of the Year: Jose Peraza

 

ROOKIE DANVILLE

Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Waszak

Player of the Year: Victor Caratini

 

ROOKIE GULF COAST LEAGUE

Pitcher of the Year: Orioel Caicedo

Player of the Year: Victor Reyes

 

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE

Pitcher of the Year: Felix Falcon

Player of the Year: Kelvin Estevez