MOSS NAMED INDIANS MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Presley, Powell, Kratz And Machi Also Receive Awards
INDIANAPOLIS — Outfielder Brandon Moss has been named the 2010 Indianapolis Indians Most Valuable Player after leading the Tribe in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and total bases. He will receive a custom-made ring courtesy of Windsor Jewelry before tonight’s home finale.
Alex Presley (Rookie of the Year), Jeremy Powell (Most Valuable Starting Pitcher), Erik Kratz (Slugger of the Year) and Jean Machi (Henry Smock Relief Pitcher of the Year) will also be honored prior to tonight’s home finale.
Moss, who has spent the entire 2010 season with Triple-A Indianapolis, has already set a new single-season career-high in home runs hit with 22, a mark that surpasses his previous high of 16 set in 2005 (Double-A Portland), 2007 (Triple-A Pawtucket and Boston) and 2008 (Triple-A Pawtucket, Boston and Pittsburgh). The outfielder’s 93 RBI are also good for the second-highest tally of his career, trailing only his impressive total of 111 RBI in 2004 (Single-A Augusta and Single-A Sarasota). Moss’ 22 home runs in an Indians’ uniform are also the most for a Tribe player since Graham Koonce hit 23 in 2005, while his 93 RBI are the most since D.T. Cromer collected 107 for Indianapolis during the 1999 season.
The Georgia native also posted the highest RBI total in the International League as well as the fourth-highest RBI tally in all of professional baseball during the month of July en route to his selection as the Tribe’s July Player of the Month. In the season’s fourth month, Moss batted .315 (34-for-108) with 19 runs scored, eight doubles, eight home runs and 31 RBI and reached base safely via a hit or a walk in 24 of his 28 games, during which time he recorded a season-high 12-game hitting streak from July 6-21.
Presley, who began the season with Double-A Altoona, was promoted to the Triple-A level on June 25 and made an immediate impact upon his arrival in Indianapolis. In just his third game with Indianapolis, Presley went 5-for-6 and posted the first-ever cycle for an Indians’ player at Victory Field in the Tribe’s 15-3 trouncing of the Toledo Mud Hens, before he later embarked on a team-best 13-game hitting streak from July 5-21 that also included another five hit-effort on July 19.
The left-handed slugger has been an offensive force all season as between his time with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, he has already set single-season, careers highs in games played (133), runs scored (85), hits (163), doubles (28), triples (13), home runs (12) and RBI (84). Presley continues to lead all Pittsburgh Pirates’ Minor Leaguers in hits (163), a total which also ranks among the top 15 in all of Minor League baseball, while he is also tops in the Pittsburgh organization in batting average (.323), ranks second in runs scored (85) and is third in RBI (84).
Powell, who has split the 2010 campaign between the Indians’ bullpen and starting rotation, continues to rank second on the team in games started (20), innings pitched (128.1) and strikeouts (81) this season. With his 10-9 record thus far this year, Powell has already tallied his first double-digit win total since he collected 10 wins for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league in 2006.
Powell also took home the Indians only International League Player of the Week honors this season, when during the week of May 3-9, he won both of his starts for the Tribe and allowed only one earned run in 13.0 innings of work. The veteran right-hander also turned in spectacular numbers in the months of June and July as he combined to post a 4-2 record and 2.98 ERA (18 ER in 54.1 IP) with 37 strikeouts and just 14 walks over 14 appearances in the season’s third and fourth months.
Kratz, who was named the starting catcher for the International League in the Triple-A All-Star game for the second consecutive season, has posted a .500 slugging percentage, which is tops among all current Tribe players with at least 200 at-bats. Despite playing in just 68 games so far for Indianapolis this season, Kratz is tied with OF Kevin Melillo for the second-most doubles (22) on the team and has hit the third most home runs (9), driven in the third-most RBI (40) and collected the third highest batting average (.274).
During the 2010 Triple-A All-Star game in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the Indians’ backstop was removed from the contest in the bottom of the fourth inning after only one at-bat when Tribe manager Frank Kremblas pulled Kratz aside and informed him that he had received his first-ever Major League promotion. Kratz later made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 17 and collected his first big league hit in his third at-bat and also scored one run and drove in another.
Machi, who is in his second season in a Tribe uniform, has already recorded career highs in both saves (21) and appearances (56) this year, surpassing his previous highs of 16 saves and 49 appearances, both of which came in 2006 when he was with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. Machi’s 21 saves so far this season continue to rank among the top five in the IL and give him the highest total for an Indians’ closer since Jonah Bayliss collected 23 for the Tribe in the 2006 season.
Each award winner will be honored prior to tonight’s home finale against the Louisville Bats at 6 p.m.
Visit IndyIndians.com for the 2011 Schedule and 2011 season ticket information.
