The Atlanta Braves will honor its 2014 minor league players and pitchers of the year Saturday, September 20 at Turner Field in Atlanta. Jason Hursh and Jose Peraza were named pitcher and player of the year for the Braves organization as a whole. Right-handed pitcher Williams Perez and third baseman Kyle Kubitza received the honors for the Double-A Mississippi club.
Other former M-Braves receiving the same honors at various levels include Phil Gosselin and Juan Jaime, player and pitcher of the year for Triple-A Gwinnett and outfielder Kyle Wren, player of the year for High-A Lynchburg.
Hursh, 22, went 11-7 with a 3.58 ERA in 27 games for the M-Braves this season. His 11 wins tied for fourth-most in the Southern League. A first round pick by the Braves in the 2013 draft out of Oklahoma State University, Hursh's ERA ranked sixth among all Braves farmhands and his wins ranked second behind fellow M-Brave Greg Ross. Hursh posted his best numbers during the month of July when he went 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA in six games.
Peraza, 20, had the third-best batting average in the Braves system (.339). He notched an organizational-high 60 stolen bases between High-A and Double-A. After joining the M-Braves on June 19, Peraza posted a .335 average in 44 games. He was named by MiLB as the Southern League Player of the Month in July (.359, 24 games). Before his promotion to Double-A, Peraza was hitting .342 through 66 games at Lynchburg. Ranked by Baseball America as the Braves No. 6 prospect, Peraza was selected as a 2014 Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star. He was also named to the 16th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game World Roster. The Venezuelan was signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2010.
Perez, 23, finished the season with the second-best ERA, 2.91, in the Southern League. His 1.19 WHIP ranked third among league leaders. Perez was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week (August 18-24) when he went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two starts. For the month of August, Perez went 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA in six starts-his best month of the season. The Venezuela native was selected as a Southern League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star. He was signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent on January 12, 2009.
Kubitza, 24, posted a .295 batting average in 132 games for the Double-A Braves. His average ranked fifth in the Braves system and ninth in the Southern League. Kubitza also finished the season leading the league in on-base percentage (.405) and walks (77). He ranked second in triples (11) and fourth in runs scored (76). The third baseman was selected by the Braves in the third round of the 2011 draft out of Texas State.
OVERALL
Organizational Pitcher of the Year: Jason Hursh
Organizational Player of the Year: Jose Peraza
TRIPLE-A GWINNETT
Pitcher of the Year: Juan Jaime
Player of the Year: Phil Gosselin
DOUBLE-A MISSISSIPPI
Pitcher of the Year: Williams Perez
Player of the Year: Kyle Kubitza
HIGH-A LYNCHBURG
Pitcher of the Year: Nate Hyatt
Player of the Year: Kyle Wren
LOW-A ROME
Pitcher of the Year: Yean Carlos Gil
Player of the Year: Jake Schrader
ROOKIE DANVILLE
Pitcher of the Year: Alec Grosser
Player of the Year: Ozhaino Albies
ROOKIE GULF COAST LEAGUE
Pitcher of the Year: Jorge Zavala
Player of the Year: Ray-Patrick Didder
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Pitcher of the Year: Dilmer Mejia
Player of the Year: Alejandro Salazar
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