White Sox prospect outfielder Adam Engel was announced Saturday as the winner of the Joe Black Most Valuable Player Award in the Arizona Fall League.
Engel, who was playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs, led the AFL in batting average (.403), on-base percentage (.523), and slugging percentage (.642) while amassing one home run, nine doubles, two triples, nine RBI, and 16 stolen bases over 19 games. The 23-year-old also had more walks (16) than strikeouts (11).
Speed is Engel’s biggest asset, as he swiped 65 bases with High-A Winston Salem this past season while batting .251/.335/.369 over 136 games. He wasn’t a top prospect coming into 2015 and a small sample of games in the hitter-friendly AFL is unlikely to change that, but more people know him now than a month ago and that’s not such a bad thing.
Recent Arizona Fall League MVP Award winners include Greg Bird (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Chris McGuiness (2012), Nolan Arenado (2011), and Dustin Ackley (2010).
