Soria, Aviles named Pitcher, Player of the Year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals today announced that Joakim Soria has been named the 2008 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year and Mike Aviles has been named the 2008 Les Milgram Player of the Year. Pitcher Zack Greinke was named the 2008 Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner. The awards were voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Soria was a unanimous selection as Pitcher of the Year.

Soria, 24, developed into one of the most dominating closers in baseball in 2008, a year that saw him named to his first American League All-Star team. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander went 2-3 with a 1.60 ERA and 42 saves in 45 opportunities (93.3 percent, third in baseball). The save numbers were the second-most in the A.L., the third-most in baseball and the fourth-best single-season mark in Royals history. The Monclova, Mexico native opened the season with 16 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and 13 straight saves. Soria becomes the sixth Kansas City reliever to win the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year, joining Mark Littell (1976), Dan Quisenberry (1980, 1982-84), Steve Farr (1990), Jeff Montgomery (1998) and Mike MacDougal (2005).

The 27-year old Aviles burst onto the scene in June and went on to post of one the best rookie seasons in Royals history, becoming a legitimate candidate for A.L. Rookie of the Year. Aviles becomes the third rookie in Royals history to win the Les Milgram Player of the Year, joining Bob Hamelin (1994) and David DeJesus (2004). A resident of Middletown, N.Y., the shortstop led all Major League rookies with a .325 batting average while collecting 27 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs and 68 runs scored in 102 games. Aviles posted 39 multi-hit games while finishing third in the league with a .359 average with men on base. He did not hit below .308 in any of his four full months in the Majors. His offensive success carried over into the field, where he had the fifth-best fielding percentage among A.L. shortstops (min. 90 games). Yesterday, he finished tied for fourth in the A.L. Rookie of the Year balloting.

Greinke, 25, went 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts for the Royals in 2008. He set new career bests in wins, ERA, strikeouts (183), innings (202 1/3) and quality starts (23). The right-hander's 3.47 ERA was 10th-best in the American League, while his 183 strikeouts tied him with teammate Gil Meche for fifth. The Orlando, Fla., native's ERA was the lowest for the Royals among qualifying pitchers since Kevin Appier's 3.40 mark in 1997. Greinke surpassed the 200-inning plateau for the first time in his career while allowing two earned runs or fewer in 19 of his 32 starts.