Blue Jays MiLB Wrap Up: Organization’s MVP’s Named

Jul 12, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays hat and glove lay in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays minor league system has completed the 2015 season. The Lansing Lugnuts made a playoff push that ended with a blowout. There was a lot of turnover in the organization thanks to an “all in” summer from the big league club. Indeed a lot happened this year. There were several highlights, like the emergence of Anthony Alford, the up and down season of Dalton Pompey, the growth of Sean Reid-Foley and more.

But, on Friday, the Blue Jays organization named its Most Valuable Players at each level. Some of the names on this list may not be the top prospect that you were expecting to see. But, each of the players named had themselves a good season and deserve to be recognized. Perhaps, if the same players were with the organization that started the season, this list might be different. This year, we can call it the “Best of what’s left”. Brendan Kennedy of The Toronto Star passed along the info:

Toronto Blue Jays

AAA Buffalo Bisons– Matt Hague. If you’ve been following the Bisons this summer, Hague’s receiving this award doesn’t really surprise you.  Hague just kept hitting this year. In 136 games, he hit .338/.416/.468 with 33 doubles and 11 home runs. His 61 walks to 65 strike outs is impressive. It shows a guy who saw the ball well all season. He earned a call up to the Blue Jays before the September call up period and then again when the roster expanded. In total, Hague saw action in 3 games at the big league level. But, this award is to recognize him carrying the offense in AAA. He led the Bisons in average, HR, RBI (92), doubles and hits (177). Heck, he led the International League in average, hits and finished 2nd in RBI.

AA New Hampshire FisherCats– Ryan Schimpf. Like Hague, Schimpf is a 27 yr old minor leaguer. He played 76 games with the FisherCats before being called up to Buffalo. And, even with that many games, he still managed to be named MVP. In AA, he hit .271/.380/.581 with 20 HR, 56 RBI, and 20 doubles. He walked 42 times to 54 whiffs. His power was a bit of a surprise this year. According to TheBaseballCube.com, his ISO of .310 is the second highest of the last few years. The highest is .346, which he did in AA last season. In both seasons, his ISO took a big dip when he hit in AAA. Despite ending the 2015 season in AAA for 31 games, Schimpf earns himself the title of 2015 AA MVP.

Next: Lower Levels of Blue Jays Organization Has Some Stud MVPs