Single-A Hagerstown recaps: Perkins, Sharp, Noll, Kieboom, Soto

Center fielder Blake Perkins made nice strides in 2017. The 21-year-old hit .297 down the stretch for low Single-A Hagerstown.

His slash line was .255/.354/.378. His 31 steals were sixth overall in the South Atlantic League. In 129 games, Perkins collected 27 doubles, four triples, eight homers and 48 RBIs.

"Blake Perkins is a guy that sets up well for me," said Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson. "He did a great job all year long. He stole a bunch of bags and really did a great job in center field. He is learning to be able to switch-hit in really his first full season, first grind all the way through. I thought he did great job."

Anderson said he was pleased with what he saw from his club in 2017. Right-hander Sterling Sharp, 22, moved up from the Suns to high Single-A Potomac. He also got to pitch to Nats hitters during rehab and postseason prep at Nationals Park. Second baseman Jake Noll, 23, hit .270 in 108 games for the Suns and also moved up to the P-Nats.

"We were really happy with a lot of our prospects," Anderson said. "Everybody got better. That was kind of our gig. Really excited to be able to see that and get through the season without any qualms or any problems.

"There were so many guys that had a chance. ... We had a bunch of guys move up pitching-wise. Jake Noll tore it up at the end and had a chance to be able to go up."

But injuries did affect the club at times. Anderson said that was an unfortunate issue that every club has to fight through each season. The Suns did a nice job of working to recover, rehab and get back on the field.

"It was really disheartening for the injuries," Anderson said." We had (Carter) Kieboom get hurt, (Juan) Soto got hurt early on, and then Carter came back, got his feet wet and got back to where he was. He did a great job."