THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — Nashville Sounds closer Jim Henderson has been named the 2012 Canadian minor league pitcher of the year by CanadianBaseballNetwork.com.

The 30-year-old Calgary native had a 4-3 record with 15 saves, 56 strikeouts and a 1.69 earned-run average with Nashville this season. He finished second in the triple-A Pacific Coast League in both saves and ERA.

Henderson spent the second half of the season in the majors with Milwaukee, where he went 1-3 with 45 strikeouts and a 3.52 ERA.

Henderson is the first two-time winner, sharing honours in 2009 with Brewers teammate John Axford of Simcoe, Ont.

Oscar Taveras won the Randy Echlin memorial award for Canada’s best minor league hitter, posting a .321 average with 23 homes and 94 RBIs with the double-A Springfield Cardinals.

Taveras, who was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in Montreal, beat out Vancouver’s Jimmy Van Ostrand, who hit .325 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs at double-A Harrisburg.