2021 Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro Award winners announced

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Jake Gordon | Last updated 9/28/21

The Braves have announced the winners of their 2021 Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro Awards, presented to the best position player and pitcher in the entire minor league system.

Congratulations to @Langeliers23 for winning the 2021 Hank Aaron Award winner as the #Braves' minor league position player of the year!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/iQ3fJiRaZQ

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 28, 2021

Congratulations to @bryce_elder13 for winning the 2021 Phil Niekro Award as the #Braves' minor league pitcher of the year!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/hbVmg00YC0

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 28, 2021

MLBPipeline has Langeliers ranked as the second-best prospect in Atlanta’s system, with Elder clocking in at 11th. Langeliers tortured AA pitching in 2021, and his defense was as good as advertised coming out of college. He threw out 42% of would-be base stealers with one of the best pop times in all of baseball, much less in the minors.

Snitker said Langeliers' pop time on his throw to second in the eighth inning was 1.87. Per Statcast, Realmuto led MLB with an 1.88 average pop time on throws to second last year.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 22, 2020

Bryce Elder is another member of a stellar 2020 draft class that includes super-prospect Spencer Strider. Elder started in Rome and climbed all the way up to Gwinnett, where he posted a 2.20 ERA over 32.2 innings. He looks like a piece the Braves could use as soon as 2022.

Congrats to both guys!

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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