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Minnesota Twins Minor Leaguer Wins Gold Glove

By Benjamin Chase |
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Minor League Baseball announced their 2017 Gold Glove winners, and the Minnesota Twins had a player win one

While the Minnesota Twins are hoping to work toward a postseason appearance at the major league level, their minor league teams and players continue to receive awards and recognition. On Wednesday, the main offices of Minor League Baseball announced their Gold Glove winners for 2017, and Minnesota Twins outfield prospect Max Murphy was one of the winners.

Max Murphy

Murphy was a 9th round draft choice out of Bradley University in 2014 by the Minnesota Twins. He’s worked his way up the system a level at a time, with some impressive shows along the way with both the bat and the glove.

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In 2014, in his draft year, Murphy opened his Twins career with Elizabethton, and he put up numbers that would astound pretty much anyone, as he hit .378/.483/.723 in his time at that level with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 10 home runs, and 4 stolen bases in just 35 games. He didn’t fare as well in 32 games at Cedar Rapids to close his draft season, but that initial showing was certainly eye-catching.

Since, Murphy has had struggles making contact, hitting .225 and .236 in 2015 and 2016, in spite of his excellent outfield defense. This season, Murphy really hit well with Fort Myers, earning a promotion half-way through the season after hitting .307/.390/.430 with Fort Myers. He finished the season with Chattanooga, and overall finished with a .762 OPS, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs, and 9 triples. His performance before promotion was so impressive to earn an All-Star award from the Florida State League.

However, it was his impressive defense both in center field and in the corner outfield spots that drew the notice and earned Murphy the award. He used his impressive arm to tally 18 assists on the season and did not make an error in nearly 1100 innings in the outfield.

Next: Twins Fans Respond to Minor Moves

Minor League Baseball’s main website has a set of awards called “The MiLBYs” that typically began gathering votes in early October, so look out for those, and we’ll make sure to link any awards where a Twin prospect is involved!

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