D-backs award Jansel Luis and Roman Angelo as MiLB Players of the Month

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced July Player and Pitcher of the Month honors for their minor league system. Infielder Jansel Luis won the Player of the Month award, while right-hander Roman Angelo won the Pitcher of the Month award.

Luis currently plays for the Single-A Visalia Rawhide, where he had a stellar July. In 21 games, Luis hit .326 with an .889 OPS and 6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs, 11 walks, 3 stolen bases and 13 runs scored while reaching safety in 20 of 21 games.

He reached base safely in all 14 road games and had multiple hits in his first five road games of the month. Overall, he had eight multi-hit games during the month. On July 9, he had a career-high five hits.

The switch-hitter crushed right-handed pitchers with a .388 batting average. The No. 9 prospect has struggled in August with a batting average of just .226 in a small sample of six games. Still, Luis has a bright future and could reach the majors in a few seasons.

Runners-up included Adrian Del Castillo of the Reno Aces before being called up, Tim Tawa of the Amarillo Sod Poodles and Manuel Peña of the Hillsboro Hops, among others.

As for Pitcher of the Month, right-hander Roman Angelo of the High-A Hillsboro Hops took home the award. In 26 innings and four starts, Angelo had a 3.46 ERA and a 2-1 record with a 1.04 WHIP, a .202 opponents batting average, 7 walks and 32 strikeouts. He allowed just 20 hits.

On July 2, he struck out a career-high 10 batters in just 6.1 innings. He dominated both sides of the plate, limiting right-handed hitters to a .188 batting average while left-handed hitters hit .229.

His changeup and slider were lethal against hitters, as both generated high miss rates. His changeup had a 47% miss rate and his slider had a 42% miss rate.

He began the season at Class A Visalia before moving up to High-A in early May. So far, in just one start, Angelo has continued to dominate. In seven innings, he has allowed six hits, two runs and, once again, struck out a career-high 10 batters.

Kyle Backhus, the Reno Aces’ strong left-handed reliever, was runner-up along with Double-A’s Dylan File and Single-A Visalia’s Teofilo Mendez, among others.