TL Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Pratto and Pasquantino Recognized with Royals Organizational Awards

March 31, 2022 - Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


2021 Northwest Arkansas Naturals first basemen Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino were among several individuals honored by the Kansas City Royals with organization awards earlier today at the team's complex in Surprise, Arizona.

Pratto is the fourth Naturals player to receive the Frank White Award, recognizing the organization's top defensive player. The 23-year-old earned a Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award at first base in 2021 and was previously recognized with the Frank White award in 2018. Pratto began the 2021 season in Northwest Arkansas, before a mid-July promotion to Triple-A Omaha, appearing in 113 combined games. He recorded 813 putouts and 64 assists in 879 total chances at first base, committing just two errors in 955.2 innings for a .998 fielding percentage. Pratto was Kansas City's first round (14th overall) selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft.

Pasquantino is the sixth Naturals player to be recognized with the Mike Sweeney Award, which honors a player who best represents the organization on and off the field. The 24-year-old began the 2021 season with the Quad Cities River Bandits in High-A and was named the Quad Cities Player of the Year, before joining the Naturals in Mid-July as he helped the Naturals capture the Double-A Central Championship. He slashed .300/.394/.563 (131-for-437) between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas and finished the year tied for second among all minor league hitters in doubles (37), sixth in extra-base hits (64) and 11th in total bases (246). His .300 batting average (131-for-437) was the best among Royals minor league hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, while he finished second in the system in hits (131), fifth in home runs (24) and sixth in runs batted in (84), while working a 1.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio (64/64).

Additionally, 2014 Naturals coach Mitch Stetter was the recipient of the Dick Howser Award, which recognizes a player development employee for outstanding contributions to the organization. Currently, Stetter is the Royals' Manager of Pitching Performance, a position he has held since 2020.

On top of the organization awards, catcher MJ Melendez was also presented with the 2021 Joe Bauman Award, which is awarded each year to the home run king in Minor League Baseball. He led all of the minor leagues with 41 home runs last season between Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha.

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