The 2039 season for the Boise Spuds organization was full of ups and downs, from the big leagues down to Rookie ball. The high point, aside from the team setting a new franchise high in wins with 77, was when superstar
Dennis French was awarded the Sawyer Silk Award for the Frick League. French dominated all year long, both at the plate, on the base paths and in the field. In addition to being named the league's most outstanding offensive player, French was named to the All-Star team for a third straight season and became back-to-back winner of the Charles Puckett Award as the best CF in the Frick League. It was only a formality that French was named the
Most Valuable Potato of 2039 as the Spuds top player, his third straight such honor.
Another bright spot was the emergence of young pitcher
Pancho Germán. The 23-year-old was coming off a disappointing 2038 campaign in which the right-hander went 9-16 with a 5.06 ERA. Many members of the media saw Germán as a potential breakout star, with the official Brewster media guide spot-on declaring "[Germán] might be a lot better than he’s shown over the past two seasons." Germán answered the call and bust out the gates on fire, going 5-0 with 2.58 ERA in the month of April. Germán finished the year 17-8 with a respectable 3.96 ERA, leading the league with the lowest HR/9 total and finishing fourth in Frick League Nebraska Award voting. Germán was an All-Star for the first time in his career and became the Spuds' ace by season's end. For his fine efforts, Germán was named Boise's
Pitcher of the Year for 2039.
Not only do Spud fans have to look forward to watching French and Germán for many more years, but they will soon be treated to the team's next young superstar in outfielder
Félix Román. The 19-year-old from Maryland crushed Single-A pitchers in the first three months of the season, earning him a promotion to Double-A Buffalo where he continued to dominate the opponent. When the dust settled, Román hit 43 home runs with an OPS of 1.012 between the two levels. Román didn't spend enough time in either level to garner Player of the Year honors, but the slugger was clearly deserving of Boise's
Minor League Player of the Year Award for 2039. Román is expected to reach Boise sometime in 2040 and when he does, the Spuds will have a trio of talented players in French, Germán and Román, a group some are already dubbing "The EU3," a play on their surnames (France, Germany and Italy) and the founding countries of the European Union.
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BOISE SPUDS TEAM ALMANAC
YEAR | MOST VALUABLE POTATO | STATS |
2035 | Ken Gerhart III | .259/.326/.522, 41 HR, 2.2 WAR |
2036 | Yunosuke Terada | .274/.378/.646, 31 HR, 3.2 WAR |
2037 | Dennis French | .293/.333/.477, 16 HR, 16 SB, 2.7 WAR |
2038 | Dennis French | .369/.410/.598, 22 HR, 23 SB, 6.4 WAR |
2039 | Dennis French | .352/.397/.596, 33 HR, 49 SB, 8.3 WAR |
YEAR | PITCHER OF THE YEAR | STATS |
2035 | Caleb Benavides | 7-9, 3.34 ERA, 28 SV, 2.0 WAR |
2036 | Maxence Mace | 14-13, 3.95 ERA, 4.7 WAR |
2037 | Maxim Makin | 11-8, 4.06 ERA, 2.2 WAR |
2038 | Dave Walsh | 12-4, 2.67 ERA, 17 SV, 2.8 WAR |
2039 | Pancho German | 17-8, 3.97 ERA, 4.8 WAR | |
YEAR | MiL PLAYER OF THE YEAR | STATS |
2035 | Yunosuke Terada (AAA) | .306/.414/.663, 46 HR, 91 BB, 7.1 WAR |
2036 | Pedro Diaz (AA) | .277/.381/.603, 43 HR, 113 RBI, 5.4 WAR |
2037 | Matabei Kokawa (S-A) | .285/.401/.623, 19 HR, 3.1 WAR |
2038 | Jim Des Jardien (AA) | .267/.386/.529, 40 HR, 104 BB, 4.8 WAR |
2039 | Felix Roman (AA) | .300/.366/.646, 43 HR, 91 RBI, 7.3 WAR | |
YEAR | LEAGUE AWARDS |
2035 | - - - |
2036 | - - - | |
2037 | Claudio Perez (Frich Diamond Glove, C) |
2038 | Pancho German (Diamond Glove, P), Yunosuke Terada (Diamond Glove, 1B), Yunosuke Terada (Frick Comeback Player), Yunosuke Terada (Golden Bat, 1B), Joaquin Torres (Diamond Glove, SS), Dennis French (Golden Bat, CF) |
2039 | Dennis French (Sawyer Silk), Dennis French (Golden Bat, CF) | |
YEAR | ALL-STARS |
2035 | Ken Gerhart III (RF) | |
2036 | Bill Pidduck (RP), Yunosuke Terada (1B) | |
2037 | Dennis French (CF) |
2038 | Dave Walsh (RP), Yunosuke Terada (1B), Dennis French (CF) | |
2039 | Dennis French (CF), Pancho German (SP) |