Four Salem Red Sox players were honored at Fenway Park Thursday afternoon by the Boston Red Sox for Boston’s yearly Minor League awards.
Triston Casas earned Boston’s Offensive Player of the Year. The 2018 first round draft pick crushed the South Atlantic League, batting .254 through 118 games with 19 home runs, 25 doubles, 5 triples and 107 total collective hits. Casas earned his promotion to Salem in time to clinch a playoff spot where the 19-year-old held a cumulative .341 average. The Florida native also took home South Atlantic League mid and post-season All-Star honors.
Jarren Duran was named Boston’s Base Runner of the Year after swiping 46 bases between Salem and Portland. The California kid tore a 16-game hit streak with Salem to finish with a .387 average, Carolina League All-Star and Carolina League June Player of the Month before his promotion to Portland. Duran also earned a spot in the 2019 Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game and Baseball America’s High-A Player of the Year.
Ryan Fitzgerald nabbed Defender of the Year for Boston after the free agent signee protected Salem all season with a .984 collective fielding percentage. Fitzgerald also earned Carolina League mid-season All Star honors and Carolina League postseason All-Star at shortstop. The Creighton alum maintained a .271 batting average and stayed atop the League in triples with 7 and 65 RBI.
Thaddeus Ward took home Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Red Sox after dazzling Greenville and Salem as a top-of-the-rotation arm. Ward collected an 8-5 record and 2.46 ERA between both clubs including allowing just five earned runs through his last five turns. He took home South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star honors.
The Salem Red Sox are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and call Haley Toyota Field in Salem, Va., home. The team was founded in 1968 and purchased by Fenway Sports Management in December of 2007.
–Salem Red Sox
