2012 Minor League Breakout Player of the Year: Devin Jones
Devin Jones struggled in the NYPL in 2011, where he posted a 6.08 ERA in 14 appearances with Aberdeen. However, in 2012, his greatly improved command and sinker allowed him to dominate out of the bullpen in the South Atlantic League and enjoy success as a starter in the Carolina League.
2012 Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year: Mike Belfiore
The Orioles acquired lefty Mike Belfiore from the Diamondbacks to complete the Josh Bell trade. Belfiore found little difficulty in his first year as a reliever with the Baysox and narrowly beat out Chris Petrini for this award.
2012 Minor League Pitcher Of The Year: Dylan Bundy
This obviously didn’t come as a shock to anyone reading this. Dylan Bundy was one of — if not the — most dominating pitcher in the minor leagues this past season and we didn’t think twice about handing him our Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award.
2012 Minor League Hitter Of The Year: Ty Kelly
Ty Kelly has always been somewhat under the radar, but it’s hard to ignore a player that consistently hits and does so even as he moves up and faces better competition.
2011 Orioles Nation Offensive Player of the Year: Jonathan Schoop
Jonathan Schoop spent the first half of the 2011 season dominating South Atlantic League pitching, and finished it by posting a .907 OPS in August as the second-youngest player in the Carolina League.
2011 Orioles Nation Pitcher of the Year: Bobby Bundy
Bobby Bundy is the easy choice for our 2011 Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year award. He struck out 100 batters in 121 IP, kept the ball in the park, and pitched deep into games.
2011 Orioles Nation Comeback Player of the Year: Randy Henry
Randy Henry opened 2010 with 22.1 dominating SAL innings where he struck out 30 and walked just 5. Then he felt elbow pain and was headed for his second Tommy John surgery. However, doctors informed him that rehab was all that was needed. Still, Henry went on to miss the rest of the season.
2011 Orioles Nation Breakout Player of the Year: David Baker
The Orioles handed out $100,000 or more to 12 pitchers from the 2009 draft class. Of those 12, eight are starting pitchers. And of those eight, David Baker has been the most impressive.
2011 Orioles Nation Rookie of the Year: Manny Machado
Although Manny Machado made his pro debut in 2010, he received just 36 at-bats, so 2011 is essentially his rookie season. He missed about a month of the season due to a knee injury, but when he was on the field his performance was impressive.
