Nov. 30, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former Kentucky consensus All-American outfielder Sawyer Carroll has been selected as the San Diego Padres Minor League Hitter of the Year, it was announced by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
Carroll, a third-round pick of the Padres in the 2008 MLB Draft, was named the co-hitter of the year in his first full professional season, joining fellow Southeastern Conference product and former South Carolina third baseman James Darnell. A 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, Carroll dominated at three different levels in 2009, leading the entire San Diego organization in batting average.
A native of Henryetta, Okla., Carroll finished with a .317 (152-for-479) average over three different minor league levels, ranking second in the organization with 96 RBI in 131 games. Overall, he belted 40 doubles, nine triples and eight homers, drawing 80 walks and stealing 19-of-27 bases. He finished with a .413 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage in the 131 games.
Carroll began the season in the Midwest League (low class A) with the Fort Wayne TinCaps, batting .316 (79-for-250) in 66 games, with 20 doubles, five homers, 40 RBI and 14 steals. Carroll was then promoted to the Lake Elsinore Storm (high class A), where he batted .320 (47-for-147) in 37 games, with 15 doubles, five triples, two homers and 42 RBI. Finally, Carroll earned a spot on the San Antonio Missons (double A), batting .317 (26-for-82) in 28 games, adding five doubles, three triples and one homer, drawing 18 walks to just 16 strikeouts.
One of the highlights of the year for Carroll, was when he was selected to the Midwest League All-Star game, played in Clinton, Iowa. Carroll batted 4-for-4 with two steals to earn Midwest League All-Star Most Valuable Player accolades.
In two levels after signing with the Padres as their supplemental third-round selection in 2008, Carroll batted .278 (67-for-241) with 17 doubles, three triples, eight homers and 47 RBI in 64 games.
During his historic two-year UK career, Carroll left Kentucky as the all-time record holder in batting average, hitting .386 (173-for-448) in 117 career games, adding 45 doubles, five triples, 22 homers and 139 RBI, posting a 83-58 walk-strikeout ratio and stealing 16-of-19 bases. Carroll’s .483 career on-base percentage checks in second-best in the 105-year history of UK baseball. During his historic 2008 season for UK, Carroll batted .419 (98-for-234) with 22 doubles, three triples, 19 homers and a school-record 83 RBI, stealing 12-of-12 bases and drawing 44 walks. Following the 2008 season, Carroll was named a consensus All-American.
