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Arizona Diamondbacks name Mitch Haniger and Anthony Banda organizational Players of the Year

The Arizona Diamondbacks named OF Mitch Haniger and LHP Anthony Banda the organization’s Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Haniger, 25, hit .321 (147-for-458) with 34 doubles, 5 triples, 25 home runs, 94 RBI, 79 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in 129 games between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno, earning a promotion to Arizona on Aug. 16. Before his promotion, Haniger ranked among Minor League leaders in extra-base hits (5th, 60), OPS (8th, 1.011) and RBI (11th, 86).

A former first-round pick in the 2012 draft, Haniger was Arizona's Minor League Player of the Month for July after he led the Pacific Coast League in average (.402), hits (45), runs (30), extra-base hits (25), total bases (93), home runs (11), RBI (35), slugging pct. (.830) and OPS (1.279). He began the season with Mobile, playing in 55 games, and earned a selection to the 2016 Southern League All-Star Game before a promotion to Triple-A on June 10.

Banda, 23, went 10-6 with a 2.88 ERA (48 ER in 150.0 IP) and 152 strikeouts in 26 starts between Mobile and Reno. The 6-2, 190-pound southpaw tossed 22.0 consecutive scoreless innings from May 28-June 15, earning organizational Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors for June. Banda was named a Southern League All-Star before earning a promotion to Reno on June 26. He also represented Arizona in the 2016 All-Star Futures Game at Petco Park.

Both players were acquired from the Brewers in exchange for OF Gerardo Parra on July 31, 2014.

Here's a list of all the players honored in this way.

Year Player Club Pitcher Club
1996 Kevin Sweeney Lethbridge Vladimir Nunez Lethbridge
1997 Travis Lee High Desert Brad Penny South Bend
Mike Stoner High Desert
1998 Jason Conti Tulsa Brad Penny High Desert
1999 Jack Cust High Desert Andrew Good South Bend
2000 Alex Cabrera El Paso/Tucson Bret Prinz South Bend/El Paso
2001 Lyle Overbay El Paso Beltran Perez South Bend
2002 Scott Hairston South Bend/Lancaster Mike Gosling El Paso
2003 Chad Tracy Tucson Brian Bruney El Paso/Tucson
2004 Carlos Quentin Lancaster/El Paso Enrique Gonzalez Lancaster
2005 Andy Green Tucson Dustin Nippert Tennessee
2006 Alberto Callaspo Tucson Micah Owings Tennessee/Tucson
2007 Justin Upton Visalia/Mobile Esmerling Vasquez Mobile
2008 Josh Whitesell Tucson Cesar Valdez Visalia/Mobile
2009 Ryan Wheeler Yakima/South Bend Billy Buckner Reno
2010 Paul Goldschmidt Visalia Wade Miley Mobile
2011 Paul Goldschmidt Mobile Tyler Skaggs Visalia/Mobile
2012 Adam Eaton Mobile/Reno Trevor Bauer Mobile/Reno
2013 Chris Owings Reno Archie Bradley Visalia/Mobile
2014 Jake Lamb Mobile/Reno Aaron Blair South Bend/Visalia/Mobile
2015 Sócrates Brito Mobile Aaron Blair Mobile/Reno
2016 Mitch Haniger Mobile/Reno Anthony Banda Mobile/Reno