From the CPL

Former Edenton Steamer Joey Wendle was recently honored as the 2013 Lou Boudreau Award recipient by the Cleveland Indians. The honor recognizes the organization’s top position player.

“There’s very little doubt that he will be able to be a solid second baseman,” Ross Atkins, the Indians’ vice president of player development told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. “He is very driven to be a better defender, a better baserunner and a more complete offensive player. He had a fantastic year on all of those fronts.”

This past season, Wendle ranked third in the organization with a .295 batting average and was tied for second with 16 home runs. While with Class A Advanced Carolina, he racked up 122 hits, 32 doubles, five triples, 64 RBIs and an .885 OPS. He finished second in the league with a .513 slugging percentage and 53 extra base hits, while also tallying 212 total bases, which ranked fourth. Numbers like those saw him earn Carolina League postseason All-Star team honors.

While with the Steamers in 2011, Wendle led the team with a .377 average to go with four homers, 39 RBIs and 46 runs scored. He featured a .507 slugging percentage and a .448 on-base percentage as well. He was named to the National CPL All-Stars as a second baseman and went 1-for-1 with a walk in a 3-2 victory for the National squad. With Wendle leading the way, the Steamers finished the CPL regular season as the top seed and made it all the way to the championship series; falling just short to sixth-seeded Gastonia, 2-1 in the best-of-three series.