Former Arkansas pitcher Jalen Beeks has been named the Boston Red Sox’s minor league pitcher of the year.
Beeks, 24, was one of six minor league players honored by the Red Sox in a pregame ceremony before Friday’s game against the Houston Astros.
Beeks finished fifth among qualifying Red Sox minor league pitchers with a career-low 3.29 ERA and second with a career-high 155 strikeouts in 26 combined starts between Class AA Portland, Maine, and Class AAA Pawtucket, R.I.
He went 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA and held batters to a .199 batting average in his 9 Portland starts, which included a 25-inning scoreless streak from April 22 throgh May 18, the second-longest in Portland franchise history.