Mervis, Devers win Cubs minor league awards
MLB teams found themselves in a unique situation in 2020. Because the pandemic canceled college and high school seasons, the draft was shortened to five rounds.
Since then, the draft has been 20 rounds and in previous years it was much longer. So a huge pool of talent would be available to sign as undrafted free agents. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer reflected on that process and how they were able to land Duke first baseman Matt Mervis.
"He was the No. 1 guy on our list, he was the priority guy to sign," Hoyer said. "We put a huge, full-court press on him four seconds into the process and were able to land him and we're thrilled that we were."
The aggressive move has paid off so far. Mervis was named the Cubs minor league player of the year Wednesday, while right-hander Luis Devers was chosen the team's minor league pitcher of the year.
Playing at three different levels, Mervis hit .309 with 36 home runs and 119 RBI. He started the season in Single A South Bend and spent roughly an equal amount of time in Double A Tennessee and Triple A Iowa. Now he's moved on to the Arizona Fall League.
"I thought Matt had one of best minor league seasons I've been around," Hoyer said. "Dominated at three levels, hopefully that will continue in the fall."
Of course, the next question is whether Mervis will be the opening day first baseman in 2023. Spring training performance will be a factor, but since first base is basically an open spot for the Cubs right now, the answer is trending toward yes.
Mervis, a Washington D.C. native, was primarily a pitcher during his first two years at Duke, then switched to being a position player and opened some eyes with a strong performance in the Cape Cod League.
Mervis' first season in the minors didn't go great, as he hit just .204 with 9 home runs for Myrtle Beach in 2021.
As good as Mervis was this year, he had some solid competition for the award from OF Alexander Canario (. 252, 37 home runs, 97 RBI) and OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (. 312, 16 home runs, 32 stolen bases).
Devers split his season between Low A Myrtle Beach and South Bend, posting a 1.91 ERA in 117 innings. The Dominican Republic native isn't a power pitcher, but his strikeout rate of 9.3 per nine innings was solid.
The Cubs minor league player of the year award is named after Buck O'Neil, a former Kansas City Monarchs star who spent 33 years with the Cubs as a scout, coach and instructor. He went into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.
The pitcher of the year award honors Vedie Himsl, a 32-year Cubs scout who recommended signing Ernie Banks.
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