Cubs name Jared Young and Matt Swarmer as Minor League Player, Pitcher of the Year

The Cubs today announced that first baseman Jared Young and right-handed pitcher Matt Swarmer were named as their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year.

Both players will be honored at Wrigley Field before the September 27 game against the Pirates.

Young is a 17th-round pick out of Old Dominion in 2017. He started his first full season of professional ball in low-A South Bend, where he hit .313/.368/.525 with ten home runs and 53 RBI in 69 games. He was named a Midwest League All-Star.

That performance earned him a promotion to high-A Myrtle Beach on July 7. He continued his strong season in the Carolina League, where he put up a line of .282/.341/.431 with with six more home runs in 51 games. Young also showed a surprisingly good baserunning ability with the Pelicans, stealing six bases in seven attempts. (He had one in South Bend.)

Young’s overall line with the two teams was .300/.357/.485 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI.

Young had a 34-game on-base streak from June 28 to August 4 that spanned the two levels.

The 23-year-old Young was primarily a first baseman in 2018, although he did play some left field as well.

Young was also named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Month for June. He is a native of Prince George, BC.

Swarmer was the Cubs’ 19th-round pick in 2016 from Kutztown University. He started the 2018 season in Myrtle Beach, where he made nine starts and went 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA. He struck out 59 and walked just seven batters in 51.1 innings. He was named to the Carolina League mid-season All-Star team.

That performance naturally got Swarmer promoted to Double-A Tennessee on June 5, where he was nearly as good. Swarmer made 15 starts with the Smokies and went 4-6 with an ERA of 3.84. In 77.1 innings, Swarmer struck out 76 and walked 21.

Between the two stops, Swarmer went 9-8 with a 3.22 ERA. He struck out 135 batters and walked just 28 in 128.2 innings. Opposing hitter only managed a .231 batting average off Swarmer in 2018.

The 24-year-old Swarmer is a native of Mohnton, PA.