KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced today seven winners of Royals organization awards for the 2024 season.
The Royals will honor these seven individuals with organization awards for the 2024 season this Friday, Sept. 20, on Futures Night at Kauffman Stadium before first pitch vs. the San Francisco Giants. All six players will make community visits on Friday morning and participate in an autograph-signing session for fans at Gate A at Kauffman Stadium from 5:30-6:15 p.m., prior to the on-field ceremony.
GEORGE BRETT HITTER OF THE YEAR
BLAKE MITCHELL, C
Blake Mitchell, the Royals No. 2 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, earned the George Brett Award, given to the top hitter in the Royals organization. The left-handed hitting catcher played in 111 games during his first full pro season, including 106 games with Low-A Columbia, where he slashed .238/.376/.439 (90-for-378, .815 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 16 doubles, 3 triples, 18 home runs, 50 RBI, 79 walks and 25 stolen bases, all while playing 530.0 innings across 62 games at catcher and 44 games as the designated hitter. He was the only minor leaguer this season to play in his age-19 season and connect for 18-or-more home runs while also stealing at least 25 bases. Mitchell was selected by Kansas City in the 1st round (8th overall) of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Sinton High School (Texas), and was signed by Royals scout Josh Hallgren.
PAUL SPLITTORFF PITCHER OF THE YEAR
STEVEN ZOBAC, RHP
Steven Zobac, the Royals No. 17 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, earned the Paul Splittorff Award, given to the top pitcher in the Royals organization. Zobac, 23, split the season between High-A Quad Cities, where he made 14 appearances (13 starts) and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, where he pitched in 11 games (10 starts). Between the two levels, he went 11-8, registering the 2nd-most wins by a Royals farmhand this year, with a 3.64 ERA (51 ER in 126.0 IP) and 123 strikeouts (8.8 K/9, 23.8 K%), along with just 29 walks (2.1 BB/9, 5.6 BB%). Zobac was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Month in June after he posted a 3-0 record with a 1.17 ERA (3 ER in 23.0 IP) across 4 starts, all of which were victories. Zobac was selected by the Royals out of the University of California in the 4th round of the 2022 Draft by scout Buddy Gouldsmith.
FRANK WHITE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CARSON ROCCAFORTE, OF
Carson Roccaforte, the Royals No. 28 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, was the recipient of the Frank White Award, which recognizes the organization’s top defensive player. Roccaforte, 22, played in 122 games for High-A Quad Cities, and all but 2 of those games in center field. The left-handed throwing speedster covered 1,042.0 innings in center field and converted 294 putouts and 4 assists in 299 chances—committing just 1 error—logging a .997 fielding percentage. There were only 11 MiLB players to play in over 1,000.0 defensive innings this year, and the other 10 players combined for 107 errors, with none recording fewer than 6. Roccaforte was selected by Kansas City out of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the Competitive Balance Round B of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft by Royals scout Cody Clark.
WILLIE WILSON BASERUNNER OF THE YEAR
TYLER TOLBERT, UTL
Tyler Tolbert, the Royals 2023 recipient of the George Brett Hitter of the Year Award, was the recipient of the 2024 Willie Wilson Award, which recognizes the top baserunner in the organization. Tolbert, 26, split the season between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, where he has combined to swipe 48 bases in 53 attempts, including a perfect 10-for-10 month of May, which was part of his streak of 15 successful stolen base attempts from May 1-June 11. Across five minor league seasons with the Royals, he has successfully stolen 241 bases in 257 attempts (93.8%). Tolbert, a non-roster invite to Major League Spring Training each of the last two seasons, was selected by Kansas City in the 13th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and was signed by scout Nick Hamilton.
MIKE SWEENEY COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD
JAVIER VAZ, IF
Javier Vaz (rhymes with jazz), the Royals No. 13 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, and last year’s recipient of the Alex Gordon Heart & Hustle Award, was the recipient of the Mike Sweeney Community Impact Award in 2024. Earlier this summer, Vaz and his teammates from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals participated in the League 42 Clinic at McAdams Park in Wichita, Kan., benefiting the local youth baseball league whose iconic Jackie Robinson statue was stolen in January 2024. For two hours, 150 participants rotated among hitting, throwing and baserunning stations on two different fields with Naturals and Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota’s Double-A affiliate) players and coaches helping lead each station. Vaz, who turns 24 on Sunday, was selected by the Royals in the 15th round of the 2022 Draft out of Vanderbilt University, and was signed by scout Will Howard.
ALEX GORDON HEART & HUSTLE AWARD
AUSTIN CHARLES, IF
Austin Charles, the Royals No. 14 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, and last year’s recipient of the Mike Sweeney Community Impact Award, was named the Alex Gordon Heart & Hustle Award recipient in 2024. The award, which was created in 2023, recognizes a player who best exemplifies how Gordon played the game. Charles, 20, spent his third professional season with Low-A Columbia, where he batted .257 (105-for-409) with 62 runs, 15 doubles, 4 triples, 10 home runs, 64 RBI, 36 stolen bases and 50 walks, while splitting time between third base (64 games) and shortstop (48), committing just 20 errors in 371 chances across 947.1 innings on the field. Charles was selected by the Royals in the 20th round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Stockdale High School (Calif.), and was signed by scout Todd Guggiana.
ART STEWART SCOUT OF THE YEAR
SCOTT MELVIN, AREA SUPERVISOR (IL, IA, MN, MO, WI)
Scott Melvin, the Royals Area Supervisor who covers Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin, was the recipient of the Art Stewart Award, which recognizes the organization’s most outstanding scout. Lovingly called “Mel”, he is in his 16th season with the Royals as an Area Supervisor, after joining the organization in 2009 after scouting for St. Louis from 1997-2008. Overall, this is his 27th year in scouting, and he has served as the President of the Midwest Scouts Association for the last 10 years. He played an integral role in the signings of Royals infielder Michael Massey, former pitchers Jakob Junis and Will Klein, who made his Major League debut for the Royals earlier this season, as well as right-handed pitching prospects Ben Hernandez and Blake Wolters, and outfield prospects Spencer Nivens and John Rave.
