Campusano, Castro lead Cal honorees

Storm catcher, JetHawks first baseman named co-MVPs

Luis Campusano (.320) and Luis Castro (.312) sit first and second in the Cal League batting title race. (Jerry Espinoza/MiLB.com)

By Sam Dykstra

August 21, 2019

The California League is known as a hitter's league, and it should come as no surprise that two sluggers will leave the Class A Advanced circuit with the biggest pieces of hardware.Lake Elsinore catcher Luis Campusano and Lancaster first baseman Luis Castro are 2019 Cal League co-MVPs, the league announced

The California League is known as a hitter's league, and it should come as no surprise that two sluggers will leave the Class A Advanced circuit with the biggest pieces of hardware.
Lake Elsinore catcher Luis Campusano and Lancaster first baseman Luis Castro are 2019 Cal League co-MVPs, the league announced Wednesday. Both also represent their respective positions on the circuit's end-of-season All-Star team.

Campusano, the Padres' No. 8 prospect, leads the league with a .320 average through 103 games. The 20-year-old backstop also ranks third with both a .393 on-base percentage and an .888 OPS while contributing 13 homers, one triple and 27 doubles, marking career highs in each of those categories. Castro is the runaway leader in OPS at .993 -- his JetHawks teammate Casey Golden is second at .901 -- and also tops the Cal League in OBP (.426), slugging (.567), runs scored (81) and RBIs (81). His .312 average trails only Campusano's mark.

Modesto left-hander Ian McKinney was named the loop's top pitcher for the 2019 season. The 2013 fifth-rounder led the league with a 2.84 ERA and ranked second with a 1.19 WHIP and 148 strikeouts over 136 1/3 innings with the Nuts. His rate of 0.4 HR/9 was also the lowest among league qualifiers.
Two Top-100 prospects cracked this year's end-of-season All-Star list in No. 3 MacKenzie Gore and No. 53 Heliot Ramos. Gore posted a 1.02 ERA and 0.71 WHIP with 110 strikeouts in 79 1/3 innings for Lake Elsinore and could have been a candidate for Pitcher of the Year, had he not moved up to Double-A Amarillo on July 9. Ramos hit .306/.385/.500 with 13 homers, 18 doubles and six stolen bases over 77 games for San Jose. Like Gore, the 19-year-old outfielder was promoted to Double-A.
Visalia's Shawn Roof won Manager of the Year honors. The Rawhide won the North Division first-half title with a 44-22 record and sit five games ahead of Modesto in the second half.
The full list of 2019 California League end-of-season All-Stars and honorees is below:

2019 California League end-of-season All-Stars and honorees

Sam Dykstra is a reporter for MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @SamDykstraMiLB.