Chase De Jong named Texas League Pitcher of the Year

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers minor league pitcher Chase De Jong was named the 2016 Texas League Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday, one of three Double-A Tulsa Drillers named to the Texas League end of year All-Star team.

Second baseman Willie Calhoun and center fielder Alex Verdugo were also named to the end of year All-Star team, voted on by league managers, coaches and media members.

De Jong, acquired from the Blue Jays on July 2, 2015 for international slot money, is 14-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 25 starts this season for Tulsa, with 125 strikeouts and 39 walks in 141⅔ innings.

The 22-year-old right-hander was drafted by Toronto in the second round in 2012 out of Wilson High School in Long Beach.

The 21-year-old Calhoun, drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round in 2015, hit .259/.325/.485 with 25 doubles in 126 games, leads the league with 88 RBI and is second with 27 home runs, the latter one behind Class-A Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Johan Mieses for the most in the Dodgers organization in 2016.

Verdugo, 20, was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round in 2014, and has hit .277/.340/.410 as one of the youngest players in the Texas League, with 22 doubles and 12 home runs in 120 games while patrolling center field.