The St. Louis Cardinals announced today their 2017 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year selections, honoring outfielder Harrison Bader and right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty for their accomplishments on the field. Both Bader and Flaherty made their Major League debuts in 2017.
Bader, 23, batted .283 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI in 123 games played at Memphis (AAA). His 20 homers ranked third on the team, and his 55 RBI were T3rd among his teammates. During the course of the season, the speedy outfielder stole 15 bases, 2nd-most for Memphis. The right-handed hitting Bader was named Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month in July, batting .317 (32-for-101) over 21 games with six home runs and 12 RBI while going 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Bader played the majority of his games in centerfield for the Redbirds, starting 108 games at that position.
Bader’s contract was first purchased by St. Louis on July 25, and he made his Major League debut that night starting in centerfield and scoring the game-winning run on a walk-off sac-fly in the bottom of the 9th. He started six games for St. Louis before an option on July 31, and then was recalled on September 1 for the remainder of the season. He started 20 of his 27 games played for St. Louis, 17 in center, two in left-field and one in right-field.
“Harrison highlighted an outstanding season in Memphis with his first Major League promotion in July,” said Gary LaRocque, Cardinals Director of Player Development. “He returned to Triple-A to lead Memphis to the Pacific Coast League playoffs before a September call-up to St. Louis, earning him the 2017 Organization Player of the Year.”
Flaherty, 22, went a combined 14-4 with a 2.18 ERA in his fourth professional season. He began his 2017 season starting 10 games at Springfield (7-2, 1.42 ERA) where he allowed just 10 earned runs in 63.1 innings pitched. He was named Pitcher of the Week for April 17-23 after making two scoreless starts, spanning 13.2 innings and striking out 14 between the two. He was then named Texas League Player of the Month by Minor League Baseball for his 4-0 April (five starts) in which he had a stellar 0.56 ERA, leading the league in innings pitched (32.1) with 28 strikeouts and holding the opposition to a .191 average.
Flaherty was promoted to Memphis on June 1, and went 7-2, 2.74 ERA in 15 starts for the Redbirds. The 6’ 4”, 225-pound righty was named to the MLB All-Star Futures Game and pitched one inning. He was named the Pacific Coast League pitcher of the Month for August after five starts, posting a 4-1 record along with a 1.97 ERA, with 29 strikeouts during the month.
Flaherty made his Major League debut on September 1 at San Francisco in one of his five starts for the Major League club during the month of September (also one relief appearance). He was named a Post-Season All-Star for the Texas League and selected to Baseball America’s 2017 Minor League All-Star Team.
“Jack started 2017 in Springfield with a promotion to Memphis, June 1,” commented LaRocque. “He started 25 games at the double-A and triple-A levels, and made his Major League debut in September, earning the selection as the Organization Pitcher of the Year.”
Bader was the Cardinals third-round selection (100th player overall) in the June 2015 First-Year Player Draft, while Flaherty was a first-round pick (34th overall) in 2014. Both players will be presented with their awards at the 2018 St. Louis Baseball Writers Association of America Awards Dinner on Sunday, January 14.
CARDINALS MINOR LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR PITCHER OF THE YEAR
YEAR NAME TEAM(S) NAME TEAM(S)
1995 Mike Gulan, 3B Louisville/Arkansas Mike Busby, RHP Louisville/Arkansas
1996 Dmitri Young, INF Louisville Britt Reames, RHP Peoria
1997 Brent Butler, INF Peoria Cliff Politte, RHP Prince Wm./Arkansas
1998 Pablo Ozuna, INF Peoria Rick Ankiel, LHP Peoria/Prince Wm.
1999 Adam Kennedy, INF Memphis Rick Ankiel, LHP Arkansas/Memphis
2000 Albert Pujols, 3B Peoria/Potomac Bud Smith, LHP Arkansas/Memphis
2001 Covelli Crisp, OF Potomac Jimmy Journell, RHP Potomac/New Haven
2002 John Gall, 1B New Haven Tyler Johnson, LHP Peoria
2003 John Gall, 1B Tennessee/Memphis Dan Haren, RHP Tennessee/Memphis
2004 Reid Gorecki, OF Palm Beach/Tenn. Anthony Reyes, RHP Palm Beach/Tenn.
2005 Travis Hanson, 3B Springfield Mark Worrell, RHP Palm Beach
2006 Colby Rasmus, OF Quad Cities/Palm Beach Blake Hawksworth, RHP Palm Beach/Springfield
2007 Colby Rasmus, OF Springfield P.J. Walters, RHP QC/Palm Beach/Spfd.
2008 Daryl Jones, OF Palm Beach/Springfield Jess Todd, RHP PB/Spfd./Mem.
2009 Allen Craig, OF Memphis Lance Lynn, RHP PB/Spfd./Mem.
2010 Matt Carpenter, 3B Palm Beach/Springfield Shelby Miller, RHP Quad Cities
2011 Matt Adams, 1B Springfield Shelby Miller, RHP Palm Beach/Springfield
2012 Oscar Tavares, OF Springfield Seth Maness, RHP Palm Beach/Springfield
2013 Kolten Wong, 2B Memphis Zach Petrick, RHP Peoria/PB/Spfd.
2014 Magneuris Sierra, OF GCL Cardinals Marco Gonzales, LHP PB/Spfd./Mem./St. Louis
2015 Stephen Piscotty, OF Memphis Austin Gomber, LHP* Peoria
Alex Reyes, RHP* Palm Beach/GCL/Spfld.
2016 Carson Kelly, C Spfld./Mem./St. Louis Luke Weaver, RHP Spfd./Mem./St. Louis
2017 Harrison Bader, OF Memphis/St. Louis Jack Flaherty, RHP Spfd./Mem./St. Louis
*Co-winners
