Astros announce Minor League Players of the Year

HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros Player Development Department announced today that first baseman A.J. Reed has been named the Astros Minor League Player of the Year, and right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove has been named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Both players will be recognized in a pregame ceremony tomorrow, Saturday, September 26 at Minute Maid Park, prior to the Astros 12:05 p.m. CT game against the Rangers. Tomorrow, Reed and Musgrove will have a free autograph signing from 11:00-11:30 a.m. at the Astros Season Ticket Headquarters on the main concourse.

"AJ quickly established himself as a professional hitter with big-time power in his first full season in the minors, while Joe put together one of the most dominant years a minor league pitcher can have," said Astros Director of Player Development Quinton McCracken. "After a modest start to his first month in Lancaster, AJ really found his stroke at the plate and hasn't stopped hitting for average and power since. We feel he's only scratching the surface of his offensive and defensive potential. Joe exhibited excellent control of his three-pitch mix and mastery of pounding the strike zone with his arsenal, as documented by his phenomenal strikeout-to-walk ratio."

Reed, 22, led all of minor league baseball in home runs (34), RBI (127) and OPS (1.044) in what was his first full season in professional baseball. Selected by Houston in the second round of the 2014 draft, Reed was named the 2015 California League Most Valuable Player, ESPN.com's Prospect of the Year and a Baseball America Minor League All-Star in addition to being a finalist for both USA Today's 2015 Minor League Player of the Year award and Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year award.

Musgrove, 22, pitched at three different levels in the Astros minor league system in 2015, combining to go 12-1 with a 1.88 ERA (21ER/100.2IP), 99 strikeouts and just eight walks between Double A Corpus Christi (8g), Class A Advanced Lancaster (6g) and Class A Quad Cities (5g). Acquired by the Astros in the 10-player trade with Toronto in July of 2012, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound right-hander led all of minor league baseball with a 12.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio (min. 100IP), the highest mark produced by a minor league pitcher since at least 2006. A supplemental first round pick by the Blue Jays in 2011 (46th overall), Musgrove posted the fourth-best ERA in the minors this season with a 1.88 mark.
 

-ASTROS-