Herrmann Wins Player Of The Year Award

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chris Herrmann has taken home the league’s top honor, and ended a 19-year wait for the Kansas City Monarchs in the process.

The MLB veteran catcher has won the American Association’s 2023 Player of the Year award, the league announced Tuesday.

Herrmann is the team’s first Player of the Year honoree since 2004, when the club was called the T-Bones and played in the Northern League.

The eight-year MLB veteran tied for the AAPB lead with 88 RBIs on the season. He ranked third in the Association with a .355 average and second with a 1.056 OPS. He also placed second with a .439 on-base percentage, third with a .617 slugging percentage and tied for fifth with 23 home runs.

Herrmann accomplished all that as the Monarchs’ starting catcher, at one point catching 17 straight games.

Herrmann hit a three-run homer to help the Monarchs to a win in their playoff opener Wednesday night in Sioux Falls. The Monarchs face the Canaries Friday at 7 p.m. from Legends Field in Game 2 of their best-of-three first-round series.

A native of Tomball, Texas, Herrmann has eight years of big-league experience with the Twins, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Athletics.

The lefty hitter earned the nickname “The Herrmannator” while playing with Arizona in 2015 and 2016. He blasted an MLB career-high 10 homers with the D-Backs in 2016.

Herrmann owns 25 homers, 103 RBIs and 182 hits over 370 MLB games.

The Monarchs finished the regular season with a league-best 59-40 record. They’re going for their third title in five seasons.