American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, Kane County Cougars outfielder Jimmy Kerrigan is named the American Association Player of the Year by This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report.

Kane County Cougars OF Jimmy Kerrigan Named American Association’s Top Player

On Tuesday, This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named Kane County Cougars outfielder Jimmy Kerrigan is the American Association Player of the Year. Kerrigan finished tied for fourth in homeruns with 27 and finished second in RBI in helping lead the Cougars to a tie for first place in the East Division.

While there were many impressive candidates in the American Association this season, what separated Kerrigan from other candidates was the fact that he did not have a great “wing man” to help support him in the batting order. Kerrigan led the club with 27 homers, with Dylan Busby and Cornelius Randolph finishing second with 14. His 13-homerun advantage over his next closest teammate was the largest difference of any team in the league.

Kerrigan got off to a fast start in May, hitting .338 with two homers and 14 RBI in his first 16 games. He also scored 19 runs in the month and posted a .410 on-base percentage. The Cougars went along with their superstar, as the team went 11-5.

In June, Kerrigan hit .311, hitting 11 home runs and driving in 25. The club hit 25 homeruns total, with the outfielder producing 44% of the total homeruns hit by the club. In July, the Cougars outfielder hit .301 with another 11-homerun month. He scored 20 runs and drove in 28 in 26 games, and was selected to the American Association All-Star team. He also posted a .407 on-base percentage. Kerrigan led his team in several categories in July, including batting average, homeruns, RBI, extra-base hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

In August, Kerrigan had .287 with three homers and 21 RBI in 26 games. In his final five games of the season, the outfielder hit .267 with a run and two RBI.

Jimmy Kerrigan finished with 27 homers and 87 RBI. He was fourth in at-bats (398), played in all 100 games, and finished second in runs scored (80). The outfielder was second in total bases (237), third in doubles (31), and tied for first in extra-base hits (60). His .595 slugging percentage was fifth overall, and he was tied for third in hit by pitches (14). Kerrigan finished in the top five in nine major statistical categories.

Jimmy Kerrigan was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Twins in 2017. He spent four seasons in the Twins organization, reaching AAA-Rochester in 2019 and AAA-St. Paul in 2021. In four minor league seasons, Kerrigan appeared in 350 games, hitting 52 homers, scoring 175 runs, and driving in 166. This is his first season with the Cougars, finishing with a .304 batting average.

Others Deserving Mention

Jimmy Kerrigan beat out Milwaukee Milkmen outfielder Bryan Torres and Winnipeg Goldeyes outfielder Max Murphy for the award. Murphy finished in second after leading the American Association in homeruns (31) and RBI (97). He had a .308 batting average.

Torres led the American Association in batting, flirting with .400 until the final three weeks of the season. He finished at .374 with 73 runs scored and 56 RBI in 93 games batting in the leadoff position for the Milkmen.

By Robert Pannier