SURPRISE, Ariz.—The Kansas City Royals today named their 2023 Organization Award winners and their Players and Pitchers of the Year for each minor league affiliate.

All Organization Award winners were honored at the club’s Spring Training complex in Surprise, Ariz. this afternoon.

Travis Ashby was the recipient of the Matt Minker Award, which annually recognizes an outstanding minor league affiliate employee. Ashby is entering his 17th season working for Surprise, Ariz., as he started working for the city in December 2007 and transitioned into an Operations role in 2010. Following the 2023 season, Ashby was promoted to Assistant Director of Sports and Tourism, and is responsible for overseeing the operations of the club’s spring home and minor league facility.

Ramón Castro was honored as the Dick Howser Award winner, which recognizes a player development employee for outstanding contributions to the organization. Castro is in his seventh season with the organization and sixth as the ACL Royals Hitting Coach. He was an infielder during his playing days, spending 18 years in the minors with Atlanta, Oakland, Washington and San Francisco (1997-2014), making his Major League debut with the A’s in 2004. In 2023, the ACL Royals went 31-25 (.554) and batted .278, which ranked as the 4th-highest team batting average in the Arizona Complex League.

Cruz Noriega was the recipient of the Carlos Fortuna Award, which recognizes a player who is dedicated to improving his English on and off the field, and who exemplifies leadership, great work ethic, discipline and dedication. Noriega made 20 appearances (6 starts) for High-A Quad Cities in 2023 and pitched to a 3.12 ERA (23 ER in 66.1 IP) with 56 strikeouts and just 15 walks allowed. He was signed as an international free agent in 2018 by scouts Edgarluis Fuentes and Joelvis Gonzalez.

Omaha Storm Chasers (Triple-A)

Nick Loftin, 25, earned Omaha Player of the Year honors for 2023 after slashing .270/.344/.444 (85-for-315) in 82 games with the Storm Chasers. Despite playing 6 games with the ACL Royals and spending the entire month of September with the Major League club, his 56 RBI with Omaha ranked 2nd on the team and his 85 hits were the 5th most. The infielder was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star for the second time in his career last season, following his 2021 accolades. He made his Major League debut last Sept. 1 and hit .323 (20-for-62) in 19 games with Kansas City, which led all rookies in 2023 (min. 50 AB). He was selected out of Baylor University by the Royals in the Competitive Balance Round A of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft and was signed by scout Josh Hallgren.

Anthony Veneziano, 26, was named Omaha’s Pitcher of the Year, following a 2023 campaign in which he appeared in 18 games (17 starts) for the Storm Chasers and pitched to a 4.22 ERA (42 ER in 89.2 IP) with 79 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .249 batting average (83-for-333). He opened the season with 8 starts at Double-A Northwest Arkansas before being promoted to Omaha in May, and between the two levels, he posted a 10-5 record with 127 strikeouts. Overall, he ranked top-5 among Royals farmhands in innings pitched (132.0, 2nd), wins (T-2nd), games started (25, T-2nd), ERA (3.55, 4th), opponents’ average (.245, 4th) and strikeouts (5th). The left hander had his contract selected by the Royals on Sept. 19 and made 2 appearances in the Majors before the season ended, including his Major League debut on Sept. 26 in Detroit. Veneziano was selected from Coastal Carolina University in the 10th round of the 2019 Draft, and was signed by scout Joe Barbera.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Double-A)

Tyler Tolbert, 26, was crowned Northwest Arkansas Player of the Year after spending the entire 2023 season with the Naturals and slashing .276/.336/.419 (143-for-518) with 44 extra-base hits and 95 runs scored. His 10 triples tied for the 3rd most in all of Minor League Baseball, and he went 50-for-58 in stolen base attempts. Tolbert’s 50 steals led all Royals farmhands, and he improved to 193-for-204 (94.6% success rate) in career stolen base attempts spanning four seasons in the minors since 2019. Since data is available dating back to 1992, no minor leaguer has recorded a higher stolen base success rate than Tolbert (min. 200 attempts), and he is 5.2 points higher than the next highest player, former-Royal Terrance Gore, who stole 321 bases from 2011-22, but was caught 38 times (89.4%). Tolbert was also the recipient of the 2023 George Brett Award, given to the top hitter in the Royals organization, and he was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star in the outfield. He attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and was selected by the Royals in the 13th round of the 2019 Draft and signed by Nick Hamilton.

Chandler Champlain, 24, earned Northwest Arkansas Pitcher of the Year honors for 2023 after making 14 starts for the Naturals and pitching to a 3.82 ERA (31 ER in 73.0 IP) with 64 strikeouts and a .234 opponents’ average (64-for-273). He made 11 starts with High-A Quad Cities before his promotion to Northwest Arkansas in June, and between his two stops, he led all Royals farmhands with 11 wins and 135.1 innings pitched, while his 25 starts ranked tied for 2nd and his 3.33 ERA and .225 opponents’ average each ranked 3rd. Last July 27 at Arkansas, the right hander spun 6.0 no-hit innings with 6 strikeouts en route to his 2nd Double-A win, and he was featured in the MLB Network Prospect Spotlight on Aug. 1. Champlain was acquired by Kansas City from the Yankees with left hander T.J. Sikkema and right hander Beck Way for outfielder Andrew Benintendi on July 27, 2022.

Quad Cities River Bandits (High-A)

Cayden Wallace, 22, slashed .261/.341/.431 (98-for-376, .772 OPS) in 97 games with High-A Quad cities and recorded 10 home runs, 64 RBI and 15 stolen bases en route to Quad Cities Player of the Year honors. Wallace was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas last Aug. 7, and at the time of his promotion, he ranked among Midwest League leaders in hits (2nd, 98), RBI (3rd, 64) total bases (3rd, 162), extra-base hits (T-4th, 38) and runs scored (T-5th, 56). His 84 RBI between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas ranked 2nd among Royals minor leaguers. A graduate of Greenbrier High School (Ark.), Wallace was selected in the 2nd round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft and was signed by scout Matt Price.

Mason Barnett, 23, began his second professional season in High-A Quad Cities and posted a 3.18 ERA (29 ER in 82.0 IP) with 94 strikeouts (10.3 K/9) across 16 starts to earn Quad Cities Pitcher of the Year honors. Prior to his promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Aug. 2, Barnett ranked 2nd in the Midwest League with 94 strikeouts and tallied a 1.70 ERA (7 ER in 37.0 IP) in 6 starts from June 20-Aug. 1. He went 2-1 with a 3.58 ERA (13 ER in 32.2 IP) in 7 starts with Northwest Arkansas and led all Royals minor leaguers last season with 137 strikeouts. Barnett was also the recipient of the 2023 Paul Splittorff Award, given to the top pitcher in the organization. He was selected by the Royals in the 3rd round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft from Auburn University (Ala.) and was signed by scout Will Howard.

Columbia Fireflies (Low-A)

In his first professional season, Brett Squires, 24, earned Columbia Player of the Year honors after he spent the entire season with the Fireflies and slashed .263/.381/.430 (110-for-419) with 21 doubles and 15 home runs. Squires reached base in 22 consecutive games from April 20-May 14, which was tied for the 9th longest on-base streak in the Carolina League, during which he slashed .284/.444/.433 (19-for-67) with 7 doubles, 1 home run, 14 RBI and 19 walks. During the month of August, Squires ranked among Carolina League leaders in total bases (1st, 58), home runs (T-1st, 7), RBI (3rd, 23), hits (3rd, 31) and batting average (7th, .337). He was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star as a first baseman and ranked in the top 5 in the Royals minor league system in RBI (5th, 69) and stolen bases (T-5th, 32). Squires was signed by Kansas City in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Oklahoma by scout Bobby Shore.

Frank Mozzicato, 20, posted a 3.04 ERA (19 ER in 56.1 IP) and 85 strikeouts (13.6 K/9) across 12 starts with the Fireflies in his sophomore season, earning Columbia’s Pitcher of the Year honors for 2023. Prior to his promotion to High-A Quad Cities on July 2, he ranked 2nd among Carolina League leaders with 85 strikeouts. In 4 April starts, Mozzicato led the Carolina League with 34 strikeouts and recorded a 1.42 ERA (3 ER in 19.0 IP). Including his 9 starts with Quad Cities, his 130 strikeouts ranked 4th among all Royals minor leaguers and his 12.6 K/9 (min. 20 starts) was the 15th highest among all minor leaguers. Mozzicato was selected in the 1st round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of East Catholic High School (Conn.) and was signed by scout Casey Fahy.

Arizona Complex League Royals (Rookie)

Erick Torres, a 19-year-old outfielder, was named the recipient of the ACL Royals Player of the Year Award after appearing in 36 games and slashing .319/.392/.428 (44-for-138) with 10 extra-base hits, 18 RBI and 11 stolen bases. His 5 triples led the ACL Royals and were tied for the 3rd most in the Arizona Complex League. Torres’ .319 batting average led all Royals farmhands and was the 10th best average among all qualified hitters in the ACL. In addition, he ranked 2nd on the team in hits (44), 1 shy of team leader Jhonny Perdomo. Of his 36 games played with the ACL Royals, Torres recorded multiple hits in 13 contests, including a 4-hit effort on July 19 vs. the ACL Diamondbacks Black. This marks a second consecutive award for Torres, after he was named the Dominican Summer League Royals Player of the Year for 2022, a season in which he slashed .266/.365/.382 (46-for-173). Torres was originally signed as an international free agent on Jan. 18, 2022 out of Santago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic by Royals scout Edis Perez.

Félix Arronde, 20, was named the ACL Royals Pitcher of the Year after finishing the 2023 season with a 1-1 record and a team-best (min. 10 games) 1.85 ERA (8 ER in 39.0 IP) and 46 strikeouts (10.6 K/9). In 26.0 innings over his final 7 games with the ACL Royals from July 1-Aug. 17, Arronde pitched to a 0.69 ERA (2 ER in 26.0 IP), an opponents’ batting average of .182 and 38 strikeouts to just 8 walks. The right hander was one of three ACL Royals selected to the Arizona Complex League All-Star Team in 2023. He was promoted to Low-A Columbia on Aug. 29 and started 2 games for the Fireflies, going 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA (4 ER in 9.2 IP) and 12 strikeouts. Altogether, his 2.22 ERA (12 ER in 48.2 IP) was the best among all Royals farmhands. Arronde was originally signed as an international free agent on June 28, 2021, by Royals scout Elias Despradel.

Dominican Summer League Royals (Rookie)

Catcher Ramón Ramírez, 18, was crowned the Dominican Summer League Royals Player of the Year after slashing .344/.440/.615 (42-for-122, 1.055 OPS) over 41 games in his first professional season. His 1.055 OPS ranked 6th in the Dominican Summer League (min. 125 PA) while his 8 home runs ranked tied for 8th. Ramírez started off the season strong in the month of June, hitting at a .462 clip (18-for-39) with 6 doubles, 2 home runs and 12 RBI. Against right-handed pitching, he slashed .362/.441/.610 (38-for-105, 1.050 OPS). Defensively, Ramón threw out 18 of 62 (29.0%) attempted base stealers in 24 starts behind the plate for the DSL Royals Blue in 2023. The Porlamar, Venezuela native was originally signed as an international free agent on Jan. 20, 2023, by Royals scouts Francis Feliciano, Daniel Guerrero and Roberto Aquino.

Victor Peña, 21, was dubbed the Dominican Summer League Royals Pitcher of the Year for 2023 after going 6-0 with 3 saves and a 0.86 ERA (3 ER in 31.1 IP) in 13 appearances between the Dominican Summer League Royals Blue and Royals Gold teams, tallying 44 strikeouts to just 3 walks. During a stretch from June 12-Aug. 7, Peña made 10 straight scoreless appearances, in which he pitched 24.2 innings and struck out 31 batters. He excelled against left-handed hitting during the season, with an opponents’ batting average at just .083 (2-for-24). The left hander had a pair of 3.0-inning saves against DSL Miami on June 23 and July 10. Peña earned 5 consecutive winning decisions in relief in as many appearances from July 17-Aug. 12, and he was named to the DSL All-Star Team for a second consecutive season. He was originally signed as an international free agent on July 24, 2021, by Royals scout Fausto Morel.