Astros announce their 2 minor-league players of the year

The Astros announce their two minor-league players of the year: Luke Berryhill and Jonathan Bermudez.

On Friday, the Houston Astros announced their two 2021 minor-league players of the year, as reported by Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Of position players, catcher Luke Berryhill received the award, after being acquired from Cincinnati during the offseason for Cionel Perez. Of the hurlers, left-hander Jonathan Bermudez got the nod for his pitching performances.

Berryhill, 23-years-old, started his 2021 campaign with the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers, before being promoted to the High-A Asheville Tourists in July. The catcher finished out the season with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks in September.

Across all three leagues, Berryhill slashed .295/.413/.561 with 15 home runs in 73 games, while playing most of his innings behind the dish. The right-hander did flash some versatility at first base as well. Berryhill had shoulder surgery this offseason, as reported by himself on his Instagram story.

Bermudez began his ’21 season in Double-A with the Hooks, where the left-hander worked through 78.2 innings. Bermudez posted a 3.32 ERA and a 12.1 strikeout per nine innings. This obviously led to a late-season promotion to Triple-A Sugar Land in mid-August of this year.

The left-hander played in seven games, starting five with the Skeeters. He threw 32.1 innings with a 3.06 ERA and a 11.1 strikeout per nine innings. The 25-year-old is not on the Astros’ Top 30 Prospects list by MLB Pipeline, which might be in part to his age.

Bermudez could be in the running for a 40-man spot some next season, while being a left-handed starter with options. There is certainly a good crop growing for rotational depth come the 2022 season, as we could likely see Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander explore new beginnings this winter and as other arms find their place in the rotation.