Jennings named Southern League MVP
Their efforts were recognized on Monday as Jennings was voted the Southern League Most Valuable Player Award and Wood was named the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher for his 19 starts with the Carolina Mudcats.
Jennings, a Rays prospect, hit .316 with eight homers, eight triples, 69 runs scored and 45 RBIs with the Montgomery Biscuits. He's still tied for second in the league with 37 stolen bases as of Aug. 31 despite being called up to Durham on Aug. 1.
Wood, a southpaw in the Reds organization, went 9-3 and put up a phenomenal 1.21 ERA over 119 innings for Carolina. He was promoted to Louisville on July 19, yet as of August 30, he was still tied for fourth with 103 Southern League strikeouts. Wood issued just 37 walks during his time with the Mudcats.
Everardo Magallanes, skipper of the Birmingham Barons, was named Manager of the Year. Birmingham had no trouble securing its second consecutive South Division first-half title, posting a 48-21 record before the All-Star break. Magallanes kept the Barons inspired through the dog days of summer, and they enter the final day of August with a 37-25 mark in the second half.
This is Magallanes' first year in the White Sox system (he spent the previous three seasons in the Angels organization), and he has his squad leading the league in hitting, runs, home runs, wins, shutouts and homers allowed.
Five of Magallanes' players -- Tyler Flowers, C.J. Retherford, David Cook, Stefan Gartrell and John Ely -- were named to the Southern League postseason All-Star team, and Retherford was the circuit's only unanimous selection.
West Tenn standouts Ezequiel Carrera and Greg Halman were all also named to the postseason All-Star roster while Mississippi's Matt Young was voted the league's "best hustler."
The awards were voted upon by a committee composed of league managers, radio broadcasters and members of the regional print media.
2009 Southern League Postseason All-Star Team | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infielders/Outfielders | DH/Pitchers | ||||
POS. | PLAYER NAME | TEAM | POS. | PLAYER NAME | TEAM |
C | Tyler Flowers | Birmingham | DH | Greg Halman | West Tenn |
1B | Blake Lalli | Tennessee | RHP | John Ely | Birmingham |
2B | C.J. Retherford | Birmingham | LHP | Travis Wood | Carolina |
3B | Juan Francisco | Carolina | RP | Matt Peterson | Jacksonville |
SS | Pedro Ciriaco | Mobile | Best Hustler | Matt Young | Mississippi |
UTIL | Todd Frazier | Carolina | |||
OF | David Cook | Birmingham | |||
OF | Steven Gartrell | Birmingham | |||
OF | Desmond Jennings | Montgomery | |||
Manager of the Year: Everardo Magallanes, Birmingham | |||||
Most Outstanding Pitcher: Travis Wood, Carolina | |||||
Most Valuable Player: Desmond Jennings, Montgomery |
Josh Jackson is a contributor to MLB.com.