On Thursday afternoon the Florida State League released their postseason All-Stars and handed out their seasonal awards. Left handed starter Amir Garrett and right handed starter Jackson Stephens both made the postseason All-Star team. Garrett also took home co-pitcher of the year honors.
Left hander Amir Garrett was dominant for the Daytona Tortugas all season long. He finished the season second in the league with a 2.44 ERA, fourth in the league in innings pitched and second in strikeouts with 133. June was the only month on the year in which the lefty had an ERA over 2.50 as he was consistently good throughout the entire year. He may have saved the best for last as he made six starts in August and September that spanned 38.1 innings, allowing just 26 hits, walking 10 batters and striking out 29. He also posted an ERA of 1.64 and a WHIP of 0.94.
His teammate Jackson Stephens was also named to the postseason All-Star team. The right hander finished seventh in the league in ERA with a 3.08 mark. He finished tied for fourth in the league in innings pitched with Garrett at 140.1 innings. Stephens is currently tied for the league lead with 12 wins. Like Garrett, the right hander finished strong down the stretch. In 11 starts from the beginning of July he posted a 2.26 ERA in 63.2 innings pitched with just 10 walks and 48 strikeouts.
Coming into the season the Daytona rotation was one to watch as it was loaded top-to-bottom and the thoughts that were there at the start of the year held up as the top four pitchers in the rotation (Garrett, Stephens, Travieso and Romano) combined for a 2.90 ERA over the course of 478.0 innings pitched. With half of that group winding up on the postseason All-Star team and Garrett taking co-pitcher of the year honors the group from the Tortugas may go down as the best starting staff the system has seen in quite a while.