The German Bundesliga has announced the top pitcher and batter in the league’s two divisions, with Kaleb Bowman, who signed a Minor League contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in October after a second strong season with the Guggenberg Legionäre Regensburg, named the South division’s top pitcher for the second consecutive season.
Dohren’s Rolan Ochoa was named the best hurler in the North, with Wilson Lee of the champion Bonn Capitals named the North division’s top batter, and Mainz’s Austin Gallagher winning the accolade in the South.
The 25-year-old Bowman struck out 105 batters while allowing just 29 hits in 66.2 regular-season innings for Regensburg in 2022, an improvement on his 2021 figures of 89 punch outs in 65 innings. After posting a 1.80 ERA in 2021, Bowman was even stingier in 2022, posting a 0.81 ERA as Regensburg claimed the top spot in the Bundesliga South.
On the back of the two dominant seasons in Germany, and after six appearances with the Atlantic League’s Gastonia Honey Hunters (7IP, 10K, 4H, 1ER) after departing Regensburg in 2022, Bowman, who played collegiately at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, was able to transition into affiliated baseball, signing with the National League’s Brewers.
In doing so, he becomes the third pitcher in recent seasons to jump from the Bundesliga to the Minors, joining Ryan Bollinger, who left the Munich-Haar Disciples after the 2017 season to sign with the New York Yankees, and Markus Solbach, who parlayed a strong 2018 campaign for Bonn into a Minor League deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Other Winners (regular-season stats)
Top Batter, South division: Austin Gallagher (Mainz Athletics) – 1.734 OPS (league best), .443 AVG, 12 HR.
Top Batter, North Division: Wilson Lee (Bonn Capitals) – 5 HR, 34 RBI, 1.182 OPS
Top Pitcher, North division: Roldan Ochoa (Dohren Wild Farmers) – 58.2IP, 2.30 ERA, 79K, 2 CG.