ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Duplantier earns D-backs’ Pitcher of Year honor, Cron wins Player of Year
The Arizona Diamondbacks named Jon Duplantier as the organization’s Pitcher of the Year and Kevin Cron as its Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Duplantier, who also earned MLB Pipeline’s Pitcher of the Year honor, joined Archie Bradley as the second pitcher in D-backs history to win the franchise’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month three times in a season.
The 2016 third-round pick out of Rice did so after closing the season with a 12-3 record and 1.39 ERA, splitting time between Single-A Kane County and Single-A Visalia. He was named a Midwest League midseason All-Star and played in the 2017 All-Star Futures Game.
It was the lowest minor-league ERA in the last 25 years, trailing only Justin Verlander’s 1.29 ERA in 2005.
Cron won Southern League MVP honors playing for Double-A Jackson and averaging .283 with 35 doubles, 25 home runs and 91 RBI. He led the league in home runs, RBI, extra-base hits (60) and total bases (256).
The 24-year-old and 2011 graduate of Phoenix’s Mountain Pointe High School was a Baseball America Double-A All-Star.
Outfielder Mitch Haniger, who is now with the Mariners, won the Player of the Year award in 2016, while Anthony Banda, who debuted for the D-backs in 2017, earned the pitching honor last year.
