Vote Durham Bulls
Each year our friends at Minor League Baseball ‘host’ the MiLBYs, which recognize the best in a number of different categories through fan voting. For the 2018 season the Bulls are well represented, as the team or individual Bulls players are nominated across four different categories.
Best Team — Vote Here
For the second straight season (and sixth time since 2002) the Bulls captured the Governors’ Cup crown, defeating Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in five games, despite playing all five games on the road because of Hurricane Florence. Durham breezed to another division title in 2018, winning the IL South by nine games over the Gwinnett Stripers, then dispatched the Toledo Mud Hens in four games in the Governors’ Cup First Round. The Bulls led the IL in runs scored, slugging percentage and total bases, and Bulls pitching led the circuit in strikeouts and ranked third in ERA. Vote for the Bulls as Minor League Baseball’s best team here.
Top Offensive Player, Nate Lowe — Vote Here
The Bulls’ first baseman from the time of his promotion on August 8, Lowe mashed through three levels in 2018, finishing with a combined stat line of .330–27–102. The Mississippi St. product finished the season ranked 10th among minor leaguers in average, T-6th in runs (93), fourth in hits (159), T-10th in extra base hits (60), fifth in total bases (274), T-7th in home runs, T-5th in RBI, and eighth in on-base percentage (.416). Vote for Nate Lowe as the Top Offensive Player here.
Top Relief Pitcher, Colin Poche — Vote Here
Few pitchers in recent memory had the season Colin Poche had in 2018. The southpaw, who spent the majority of the year with Durham after he was traded from the Arizona system in May, struck out 110 batters in 66 innings across three teams this season, posting a 0.82 ERA to accompany a 6–0 record. In 40 games the Dallas Baptist product posted a 5.8/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing just 33 hits and six earned runs. Vote for Colin Poche as the Top Relief Pitcher here.
Best Farm System — Vote Here
The Bulls were one of nine Tampa Bay Rays affiliates to finish the 2018 season with a winning record, and one of three teams to win the league championship. Overall, the organization finished with a .604 winning percentage, the best winning percentage among any affiliation. Vote for the Rays as the Best Farm System here.
