Pauley, Snelling named Padres Player and Pitcher of the Year

By SDCN Editor

San Diego, CA–The San Diego Padres have selected infielder Graham Pauley as their 2023 organizational Minor League Player of the Year and named left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling as Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Pauley, 22, hit .308 (148-for-481) with 32 doubles, 23 home runs, and 94 RBI in 127 games across Single-A Lake Elsinore, Single-A Fort Wayne, and Double-A San Antonio. The Alpharetta, Georgia. native began his second professional season at Lake Elsinore, hitting .309 (71-for-230) with 14 doubles, a career-high five triples, four homers, 36 RBI, and 12 stolen bases in 62 games for the Storm. The 2022 13th-round pick out of Duke University (N.C.) garnered California League Player of the Month honors for April after slashing .371/.482/.557 while leading the league in on-base percentage (.482) and ranking second in average, hits (26) and OPS (1.039). Following the regular season, Pauley was named a California League Post-Season All-Star after ranking fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.422) and seventh in average (.309). On June 27, he was promoted to Single-A Fort Wayne, where he spent 45 games amassing eight doubles, 16 home runs, 46 RBI, and eight stolen bases at a .300 clip (51-for-170). The third baseman capped his stint with the TinCaps tabbing Midwest Player of the Week accolades on August 6 before being promoted to San Antonio on August 22 for the remainder of the season. Across 20 games for the Missions, he batted .321 (26-for-81) with 10 doubles, three home runs, and 12 RBI en route to pacing Padres farmhands in hits (148), triples (T-1st, 5), home runs (23), RBI (94) and total bases (259).

In his first professional season, Snelling went a combined 11-3 with a 1.82 ERA, 118 strikeouts against 34 walks, and limited opposing bats to a .216 average in 103.2 innings across Lake Elsinore, Fort Wayne, and San Antonio. The southpaw led San Diego’s system in wins and WHIP (1.12, min. 70.0 IP) and ranked among the top in games started (22, 4th), strikeouts (5th), and innings pitched (6th). The 39th overall pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft began his season at Lake Elsinore, turning in a 5-1 record and league-leading 1.57 ERA (min. 50.0 IP) with 59 strikeouts en route to California League Pitcher of the Year and CAL Post season All-Star honors. He was promoted to Fort Wayne on June 27 where he made seven starts for the TinCaps, going 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA and 40 punchouts. The 19-year-old Nevada native spent the balance of his season with San Antonio, pitching to a 2-0 record and 1.56 ERA in four starts for the Missions. Tabbed as the No. 60 overall prospect by MLB.com, Snelling concluded the regular season by collecting Texas League Player of the Week accolades, highlighted by his 5.0 hitless innings and career-tying nine strikeouts on Aug. 30 at Wichita.