Carter, Deduno honored in Texas League
Deduno, who was 12-4 with a 2.69 ERA for Tulsa through August, was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Year, and Carter, who hit .337 with 24 home runs and 101 RBIs for Midland before a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento, was named the circuit's Player of the Year.
Tulsa's right-hander leads the league in wins and ERA and is four strikeouts shy of the lead in that category with eight games left in the regular season, giving Deduno a shot at the pitching Triple Crown.
The announcement came on Monday, when the league also released the postseason All-Star roster and named the Manager and Coach of the Year.
Darren Bush, who has led the Midland RockHounds to a 73-59 record going into the last day of August, was selected as Manager of the Year. Bush is in his first year as a Texas League skipper, having managed the California League's Stockton Ports in 2007 and 2008. He's been working in the Oakland system since serving as the hitting coach for Stockton in 2005.
The Mike Coolbaugh Coach of the Year Award goes to Arkansas' Ken Patterson, who's the Travelers' pitching coach. 2009 marked Patterson's third year in that role with Arkansas and his fifth as a pitching coach in the Angels organization. Through Sunday, his staff boasts a league-best 3.76 ERA and no other team has allowed fewer hits (1,115).
Arkansas starting pitcher Trevor Reckling, a postseason All-Star, can attest to Patterson's coaching method. Reckling made his Double-A debut this season, and after posting a 3.37 ERA in Class A last year, has put up a 2.93 mark in the Texas League through August.
Carter, who was promoted to the Triple-A River Cats on Aug. 25, is one of three Midland players selected to the postseason All-Star roster. He's joined by second baseman Adrian Cardenas, who's also with Sacramento now, and pitcher Graham Godfrey, who had 109 strikeouts and just 49 walks going into September.
Corpus Christi's Drew Locke, who leads the league in hitting and RBIs, was one of two selections from that team.
The award winners and post-season All-Star selections are voted on by beat writers -- with one vote per city -- team play-by-play broadcasters and Texas League managers.
2009 Texas League Postseason All-Star Team | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infielders/Outfielders | DH/Pitchers | ||||
POS. | PLAYER NAME | TEAM | POS. | PLAYER NAME | TEAM |
C | Hank Conger | Arkansas | DH | Chad Tracy | Frisco |
1B | Chris Carter | Midland | RHSP | Jhoulys Chacin | Tulsa |
2B | Daniel Descalso | Springfield | RHSP | Samuel Deduno | Tulsa |
3B | Darin Holcomb | Tulsa | RHSP | Graham Godfrey | Midland |
SS | Wladimir Sutil | Corpus Christi | RHSP | Trey Hearne | Springfield |
UTIL | Adrian Cardenas | Midland | RHRP | Andrew Johnston | Tulsa |
OF | Craig Gentry | Frisco | RHSP | Lance Lynn | Springfield |
OF | Tyler Henley | Springfield | LHSP | Trevor Reckling | Arkansas |
OF | Drew Locke | Corpus Christi | |||
Manager of the Year: Darren Bush, Midland | |||||
Pitcher of the Year: Samuel Deduno, Tulsa | |||||
Player of the Year: Chris Carter, Midland | |||||
Mike Coolbaugh Texas League Coach of the Year: Ken Patterson, Arkansas |
Josh Jackson is a contributor to MLB.com.