O's top minor league award winners for 2024: Coby Mayo and Brandon Young

Coby Mayo

Two players the Orioles acquired in and after the 2020 MLB Draft have won their two top player development and scouting awards, the club announced today.

Slugger Coby Mayo wins the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' minor league Player of the Year. Right-hander Brandon Young is the Jim Palmer Award winner as minor league Pitcher of the Year.

The Orioles also today named Latin America Coordinator of Instruction Samuel Vega the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award winner and Donovan O'Dowd the Jim Russo Scout of the Year.

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 draft was just five rounds. The O’s selected Mayo in round four at selection No. 103. After that draft, they added Young out of Louisiana-Lafayette as a non-drafted free agent.

Mayo is ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect and No. 8 overall in the top 100 by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline after a big year at Triple-A Norfolk.

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Jackson Holliday named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year

Jackson Holliday

At around this time last year, the Orioles Gunnar Henderson was named Baseball America's 2022 Minor League Player of the Year. Now the Orioles have two players in a row so honored.

As his remarkable first full season on the farm is winding down, today shortstop Jackson Holliday of the Orioles was named the 2023 winner by Baseball America.

This is the third time since the award started in 1981, that one organization had a winner two years in a row, but the first time it was two different players. The New York Mets' Gregg Jefferies won in 1986-87 and Andruw Jones of Atlanta in 1995-96. Now Henderson and Holliday go back-to-back for the Orioles.

Holliday's season has seen him progress four levels, starting the year with Low Single-A Delmarva, moving to High-A Aberdeen and then on to Double-A Bowie and now he is with Triple-A Norfolk.

His regular season ended yesterday with Norfolk, but the Tides will host Durham beginning Tuesday night in the International League's best-of-three championship series. The IL winner will meet the Pacific Coast League champs this Saturday in the Triple-A championship game.

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Nats announce 2023 Minor League Award winners

James Wood Harrisburg red

As we get closer to the end of the season, a new season is upon us: award season.

The Nationals kicked things off yesterday by announcing their 2023 Minor League Award winners:

* Hitter of the Year – James Wood
* Pitcher of the Year – Andrew Alvarez
* Defensive Player of the Year – Trey Lipscomb
* Baserunner of the Year – Johnathon Thomas
* Nationals Way Award – Jacob Young

Wood, 21, led the Nats’ minor league system in most offensive categories by setting a lot of career highs: first in home runs (26), RBIs (91) and slugging percentage (.520); second in OPS (.873), doubles (28) and triples (eight); and third in hits (124).

The Nats’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline and Baseball America finished the season slashing .262/.353/.520 with 28 doubles, eight triples, 26 home runs, 91 RBIs, 65 walks, 18 stolen bases and 80 runs scored in 129 games between High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg.

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