Twins Announce 2022 Team Award Winners

The season has wrapped up, roster moves are starting to be made, and award season is officially upon us. Each season, the Twins give out their Diamond Awards for the best players and community members during the previous season. Grab a pumpkin spice latte and settle in to hear about Carlos Correa winning every award imaginable.

Carlos Correa Brings Home the Trophies

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

As you’ve surely gathered by now, Carlos Correa took home the bulk of the awards, and deservedly so. Correa led the team in WAR, OPS, total bases, and extra-base hits, while coming in second place in home runs, batting average, OBP, and hits. He did all of that while playing his typical outstanding defense, including a couple of game-saving, elite plays.

C4’s all-around efforts earned him the Most Valuable Twin and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Correa won a few more subjective awards as well, taking home the Media Good Guy award for his work with the Twins’ media throughout the season, as well as the Bob Allison Award, which is given to a player each year who “exemplifies determination, hustle, tenacity, competitive spirit, and leadership both on and off the field.” Everyone from front office personnel to players on the team has discussed Correa’s incredible leadership. so it’s no surprise that he earned this honor.

Carlos Correa’s final award of the day was the Outstanding Community Service Award. He and his wife Daniella run the Correa Family Foundation, which focuses its charitable efforts on pediatric cancer patients and their families. Correa brought the service to Minnesota in 2022 and helped raise funding and provide meet-and-greets and exclusive game experiences for Minnesota children battling cancer.

Surprisingly, there were a few awards that went to other members of the team as well. Since Carlos Correa can’t pitch, rookie phenom Jhoan Duran brought home awards for both Pitcher of the Year and Most Outstanding Rookie. Duran had one of the relief pitcher seasons in Twins history and electrified fans along the way. His 103 MPH fastball and signature “splinker” pitch helped him lead all Twins pitchers in WAR despite ranking 6th in innings.

The Twins’ Most Improved Player honor went, unsurprisingly, to Nick Gordon. Gordon enjoyed a breakout season, hitting .272/.316/.427 with 9 home runs and 50 RBI. He was also second on the team with 28 doubles. While the numbers themselves aren’t overwhelming, Gordon had a knack for coming up with timely hits when the Twins needed them most, especially as the rest of the team struggled with runners in scoring position.

On the minor league side, Minnesota natives Louie Varland and Matt Wallner took home the Minor League Pitcher and Minor League Play of the Year awards, respectively. Both players had similar paths this year, starting 2022 at Wichita and dominating, eventually making it all the way to the Twins by the end of the year. Both players showed flashes in their limited time at the major league level and should be factors for the organization going forward. It should also be noted that Varland won his award for the second year in a row.

Finally, the Twins also give out an award for the best player from the Upper Midwest in any organization. That honor went to Daulton Varsho, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ outstanding outfielder and catcher. Varsho, originally from Marshfield, Wisconsin, split his time between behind the plate and in the outfield and put up elite defensive metrics at each position, a simply incredible feat. Varsho led the Diamondbacks in fWAR, hitting 27 home runs and 74 RBI, while also swiping 16 bases for good measure.