Top 2018 Minor League Position Players

With the 2018 minor league season coming to a close, I have gathered the top hitting and pitching performers across the minor leagues. The selections for these awards were made regardless of prospect status or minor league level(s), though park and league environments were considered. Below are the position player awards, pitcher awards coming soon.

Minor League Position Player of the Year

Winner: OF Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays)
20 HR, .381/.437/.636, 3 SB, 194 wRC+ in 95 games at GCL, High A, AA, and AAA
This one, while not a no-brainer, was a pretty easy choice. The teenager had a great year last year between Class A and High A, slashing .323/.425/.485 with 13 home runs as an 18 year old, but this year has been a different story entirely. Beginning at AA New Hampshire, he slashed a straight up unbelievable .402/.449/.671 with 14 home runs and nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (27) over 61 games. Promoted to AAA Buffalo towards the end of the season and after he returned from injury, he kept on hitting, slashing .336/.414/.564 with six home runs and more walks (15) than strikeouts (10) in 30 games. Overall, when you include his four game rehab stint, he slashed .381/.437/.636 with 20 home runs in 95 games, adding 29 doubles and a triple. At no point during the season did he seem challenged, showcasing power, hitting ability, and plate discipline at exceptional levels. Interestingly, he was the only player outside the hitters' leagues (California League, Pacific Coast League) to slug over .600, and he did it with an on-base percentage over .400. The only reason he's still in the minors is so the Blue Jays can control his service time, but expect him in Toronto early in 2019, shortly after his 20th birthday, and he's the early favorite for the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award.

Runner-Up: 1B Nathaniel Lowe (Tampa Bay Rays)
27 HR, .330/.416/.568, 1 SB, 178 wRC+ in 130 games at High A, AA, and AAA
Between Nathaniel, his brother Josh, and Brandon (unrelated), the Rays have three highly regarded Lowe's in their farm system. Brandon and Josh had more fanfare coming into the season, with Brandon coming off a big 2017 and Josh being a first round pick from the 2016 draft. However, Nathaniel, who was taken in the 13th round out of Mississippi State in 2016 and who slashed just .274/.373/.388 between Class A and High A last year, had the best season out of all of them. Beginning at High A Charlotte, he simply mashed in his 51 games and slashed .356/.432/.588 with 10 home runs and a nice 33/25 strikeout to walk ratio. After a promotion to AA Montgomery, he got even better, slashing .340/.444/.606 with 13 home runs and a 30/35 strikeout to walk ratio in 51 games. A second promotion to AAA Durham ensued, where his bat finally cooled a little, slashing .260/.327/.460 with four home runs and a 27/8 strikeout to walk ratio in 28 games. Still, with 27 home runs and a .330/.416/.568 slash line over a full season, he put forward the most cumulative offense in all of minor league baseball (113 weighted runs created), and he has moved ahead of his younger brother Josh on the Rays prospect charts, though Brandon also had a productive season and is now the top Lowe.

Honorable Mention: OF Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota Twins)
20 HR, .348/.392/.578, 4 SB, 172 wRC+ in 130 games at Class A and High A
Second place for this award was really a toss-up, and while Lowe ultimately came out on top, you could make a very good argument for Kirilloff as position player who had the second best season in the minors. Drafted in the first round out of a Pittsburgh-area high school in 2016, he missed the entire 2017 season with Tommy John surgery and he was expected to work his way back relatively slowly in 2018. Starting off at Class A Cedar Rapids, the 20 year old instead slashed .333/.391/.607 with 13 home runs and a 47/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 65 games, putting together an excellent 176 wRC+ and forcing a promotion to High A Fort Myers. There, he didn't miss a beat, slashing .362/.393/.550 with seven home runs and a 39/14 strikeout to walk ratio in another 65 games, good for a 168 wRC+. All told, he hit 44 doubles, seven triples, and 20 home runs, slashing .348/.392/.578, his 73 extra base hits and 296 total bases leading the minors and his 111 weighted runs created falling second only to Lowe. Over his first two postseason games in High A, he has collected seven hits, including a home run, in nine at bats, which would bring his season's slash line up to .355/.398/.587 if it were included.

Others

2B Vidal Brujan (Rays, 9 HR, .320/.403/.459, 55 SB, 149 wRC+ at Class A and High A)
Brujan may not have hit for much power, but when you get on base at a clip above .400 and steal 55 bases, that's worth taking notice of. Throw in his gap power (25 doubles, seven triples) and his nine home runs despite playing 27 games in the pitcher-friendly High A Florida State League, and Brujan was a complete player this year.

OF Eloy Jimenez (White Sox, 22 HR, .337/.384/.577, 0 SB, 168 wRC+ at AA and AAA)
One of the game's top offensive prospects, Jimenez hit well in AA (.317/.368/.556) before taking off in AAA, slashing .355/.399/.597 to bring his total line to .337/.384/.577, showing some of the best raw power in all of minor league baseball while still getting the bat on the ball regularly. All that keeps him from ranking higher is his .384 on base percentage, which is very good but falls shy of other players on this list.

OF Michael Reed (Braves, 11 HR, .342/.453/.520, 10 SB, 179 wRC+ at AA and AAA)
Reed is the least well-known player here (except for possibly Brujan if you're not caught up with the latest prospect buzz), but he actually led all of minor league baseball with a .453 on base percentage. He hit for average power and stole a few bases, but the incredible OBP was enough to land him up here.

3B Taylor Ward (Angels, 14 HR, .349/.446/.531, 18 SB, 167 wRC+ at AA and AAA)
Ward had a similar season to Reed, but while his numbers look better on the surface, he lands just below due to his playing 60 games in the hitter-friendly AAA Pacific Coast League. The .446 on-base percentage was second only to Reed, and he too was able to hit for some power and swipe a few bags.

OF Kyle Tucker (Astros, 24 HR, .332/.400/.590, 20 SB, 155 wRC+ at AAA)
Tucker's numbers look better on the surface, combining a .400 on base percentage with a slugging percentage near .600, but he played all 100 of his games in the hitter friendly AAA Pacific Coast League, so he's bumped down a hair. Still, you can't argue with the production, and he's the only 20-20 player on this list.

Bonus
OF Juan Soto (Nationals, 14 HR, .362/.462/.757, 3 SB, 232 wRC+ at Class A, High A, and AA)
Juan Soto played just 39 games during his meteoric rise through the minors this year, but he made them count; he homered 14 times (more than once every three games) while getting on base at a .462 clip and slugging .757. Over a full season, those would have been Barry Bonds at the heart of the Steroid Era numbers. Jeez. Guess we'll have to settle for a strong NL Rookie of the Year case as a 19 year old.