The Washington Nationals selected the following players as their 2022 Minor League award winners on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo and Director of Player Development De Jon Watson made the announcement.

• Hitters of the Year – OF Jeremy De La Rosa and OF James Wood
• Pitcher of the Year – RHP Cade Cavalli
• Defensive Player of the Year – INF Jordy Barley
• Base Runner of the Year – OF Jacob Young
• Nationals Way Award – INF Jake Alu

De La Rosa, 20, was one of Minor League Baseball’s most complete young hitters in 2022, batting .280 with a .358 on-base percentage and a .436 slugging percentage with 23 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 67 RBI, 48 walks, 66 runs scored and 39 stolen bases in 101 games between Single-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington. He was one of only 12 players in all of Minor League Baseball to put together a slash line of .280/.358/.436 or better to go along with 39 stolen bases.

De La Rosa ranked in Washington’s Minor League system in stolen bases (T2nd, 39), on-base percentage (4th, .358), batting average (5th, .280), OPS (5th, .794), RBI (T5th, 67) and total bases (6th, 173). He set career highs in nearly every statistical category.

De La Rosa was named Carolina League Player of the Month for the month of May, hitting .372/.433/.553 with six doubles, a triple, three home runs, 10 walks, 17 RBI, 18 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. His 35 hits that month were the most in the Carolina League. He opened his 2022 season hitting safely in 31 of 35 games through May 21, including a season-high 12 game hitting streak from April 15-29. During the streak he batted .314 (16-for-51) with three doubles, a homer, 10 walks, nine RBI and 16 runs scored.

De La Rosa is currently rated by Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com as the No. 10 prospect in Washington’s Minor League system. He was signed as an international free agent on July 2, 2018, by Nationals scout Modesto Ulloa.

Wood, 20, opened his Nationals career going 12-for-30 (.400) in his first seven games after being acquired at the 2022 Trade Deadline from the San Diego Padres. He hit safely in six of the seven contests with four doubles, a homer, two walks, nine RBI and five runs scored. All told, he appeared in 21 games with Single-A Fredericksburg, hitting .293/.366/.463 with eight doubles, two home runs, 10 walks, 17 RBI and 14 runs scored.

Prior to joining the Nationals, the Rockville, Md., native hit .321 with a .439 on-base percentage and a .565 slugging percentage in 55 games between Single-A Lake Elsinore and the ACL Padres. He had 19 doubles, one triple, 10 homers, 45 RBI, 40 walks, 16 stolen bases and 56 runs scored between the two stops. At the end of his second professional season, Wood set career highs in hits (91), doubles (27), home runs (12), walks (50), RBI (62), runs (70) and stolen bases (20) between the two organizations.

Wood was selected in the second round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He is currently rated by Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com as the No. 3 prospect in Washington’s Minor League system. He is the No. 34 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball according to MLBPipeline.com and the No. 36 prospect per Baseball America.

Cavalli, 24, went 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 39 walks in 97.0 innings across 20 starts. He allowed just three home runs, and his 0.28 home runs allowed per 9.0 innings ranked eighth among Minor League pitchers with at least 75.0 innings pitched. From May 22 through July 27, Cavalli pitched to a 1.89 ERA (10 ER/47.2 IP) with a 3-0 record across nine starts. He pitched at least 5.0 innings in seven of the starts and threw 7.0 innings in three starts. Opponents hit just .179 with two home runs during this span.

Cavalli was one of three Nationals Minor League pitchers to throw a complete game in 2022, tossing 7.0 innings allowing just one run on five hits on June 4 against Buffalo. He recorded 10 strikeouts in the game, marking the seventh double-digit strikeout performance of his Minor League career.

Cavalli was selected to represent the Washington Nationals in the 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, but did not participate. He earned International League Pitcher of the Week honors on July 11 after throwing 7.0 shutout innings, allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts on July 6 at Lehigh Valley. He made his Major League debut on Aug. 26 against Cincinnati. He

Washington’s first round selection in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft, Cavalli is currently rated as the No. 4 in Washington’s Minor League system according to MLBPipeline.com and the No. 5 prospect by Baseball America. He is rated by Baseball America as the No. 51 prospect in all of baseball and by MLBPipeline.com as the No. 56 prospect. He was signed by Nationals scout Jerad Head.

Barley, 22, showed remarkable improvement this season while leading all Nationals’ farmhands in innings and starts at shortstop. He increased his fielding percentage at shortstop from .853 in 2021 to .960 in 2022 – a 13.0 percent improvement – committing 28 fewer errors. Additionally, he turned the most double plays (52) among shortstops in the South Atlantic League and his 199 assists were the second most among Washington’s Minor Leaguers. In June, he fielded 80 total chances for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He recorded a season-high seven assists at Aberdeen (BAL) on April 13, and set a season-high, turning three double plays. While on the field, he contributed to 52 double plays up the middle.

At the plate, Barley collected 60 hits, including 11 doubles, four triples and two home runs. His four triples were tied for the fourth-most in Washington’s Minor League system. He drove home 21 RBI and scored 37 runs.

Young, 23, was one of two players in all of Minor League Baseball to steal at least 50 bases and score at least 100 runs. His 118 runs scored were tied for the most in all of Minor League Baseball, while his 52 stolen bases were the most among Nationals Minor Leaguers. Young also ranked among Nationals farmhands in triples (T2nd, 8), on-base percentage (3rd, .360), hits (4th, 122) and walks (4th, 59).

Young’s four stolen bases on April 24 at Kannapolis (CWS) were tied for the most in a single game of any Minor Leaguer in Washington’s system in 20222. He was caught stealing just seven times on the year, including going a perfect 9-for-9 on stolen bases to begin the season through May 4.

Young was selected in the seventh round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida. He was signed by Nationals scout Tommy Jackson.

Alu, 25, receives the award given to the Nationals Minor Leaguer who best demonstrates the professionalism, leadership, loyalty, passion, selflessness, durability, determination and work ethic required to play the game the “Washington Nationals Way.”

The left-handed hitting Alu led Washington’s Minor League system in average (.299), slugging percentage (.506), OPS (.871), doubles (40), extra base hits (62), total bases (254) and tied for first in RBI (81). He ranked second in on-base percentage (.365) and hits (150). He had two separate hitting streaks of 14 games from June 28-July 16 and Sept. 11-Sept. 27. He finished the 2022 campaign on a season-high 20 game on-base streak, hitting safely in 19 of the 20 contests. Alu opened his third professional sason at Double-A Harrisburg before being promoted to Triple-A Rochester on July 12.

At third base, Alu led all of Minor League Baseball (infielders and outfielders) with 17 defensive runs saved, according to Baseball Info Solutions. In addition to his 114 games at third base, Alu also spent time at second base (9 games) and designated hitter (6 games).

Alu was selected in the 24th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Boston College. He was signed by Nationals scout John Malzone.

Year Winners

2022 OF Jeremy De La Rosa and OF James Wood (co-Hitter of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), Jordy Barley (Defensive Player of the Year), Jacob Young (Baserunner of the Year), Jake Alu (Nationals Way)

2021 INF/OF Jake Noll (Player of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), OF Donovan Casey (Defensive Player of the Year), INF Jordy Barley (Baserunner of the Year), INF/OF Jack Dunn (Nationals Way)

2020 No awards due to the cancellation of the Minor League Season

2019 OF Yadiel Hernandez (Player of the Year), LHP Tim Cate (Pitcher of the Year), INF Luis García (Defensive Player of the Year), INF/OF Cole Freeman (Baserunner of the Year), C Jakson Reetz (Boone)

2018 INF Carter Kieboom (Player of the Year), LHP Ben Braymer/RHP Wil Crowe (co-Pitcher of the Year), INF Jake Noll (Boone)

2017 OF Daniel Johnson (Player of the Year), RHP Wander Suero (Pitcher of the Year), C Raudy Read (Boone)

2016 1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Reynaldo Lopez (Pitcher of the Year), OF Rafael Bautista (Boone)

2015 1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Austin Voth (Pitcher of the Year), RHP Austen Williams (Boone)

2014 OF Steven Souza Jr. (Player of the Year), RHP Lucas Giolito (Pitcher of the Year), INF Wilmer Difo (Boone)

2013 OF Billy Burns (Player of the Year), RHP Taylor Jordan (Pitcher of the Year), 2B Tony Renda (Boone)

2012 INF Matthew Skole (Player of the Year), RHP Nathan Karns (Pitcher of the Year)

2011 INF Steve Lombardozzi (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Peacock (Pitcher of the Year)

2010 OF Tyler Moore (Player of the Year), LHP Tom Milone (Pitcher of the Year)

2009 C Derek Norris (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Meyers (Pitcher of the Year)

2008 OF Leonard Davis (Player of the Year), RHP Jordan Zimmermann (Pitcher of the Year)

2007 OF Justin Maxwell (Player of the Year), LHP John Lannan (Pitcher of the Year)

2006 INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), RHP Zechry Zinicola (Pitcher of the Year)

2005 INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), LHP Michael O'Connor (Pitcher of the Year)