Following the report on the Lansing Lugnuts, we move south to Dunedin to move a level up in the system for the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays.
The Dunedin Blue Jays had a very good year, making the playoffs in the Florida State League and finishing the year at 76-59. While they were beaten in a tight three-game series against the Tampa Yankees, the Blue Jays finished the year in a close second place in the league in runs scored at 4.66 per game while being 0.4 years older than the league average. The pitching staff, on the other hand was third last in the league with 4.42 runs per game allowed, also coming in a 0.4 years of age above the league average.
Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game Champion
For those of you who followed the minor league reports here, you’ll know that I “awarded” Player of the Game (PotG) accolades on a game-by-game basis. It should comfort you to know that I’ve been keeping track of these daily awards and my rationale for the system is as follows.
The Player of the Game Awards were determined by a number of factors that included who I thought had the most impact on the game and who might have gone “above and beyond.” Most nights, there was just one Player of the Game. If there was, he earned one point. If I thought that either a) no one stood out enough to merit a single PotG, or b) two or more players were outstanding and deserved mention, I split the point up into two, three or four shares. If two players earned PotG mention, they each received 0.5 points and if three players earned mentions, they each received 0.33 points, etc. There were occasions that I felt that no one merited the award and therefore, I did not give out any points.
Ryan McBroom | 13.33 |
Jonathan Davis | 12.17 |
Richard Urena | 9.83 |
Dickie Joe Thon | 8.83 |
Chris Rowley | 7.83 |
Emilio Guerrero | 7.83 |
Anthony Alford | 7.5 |
Jason Leblebijian | 5.33 |
Conner Greene | 5 |
Sean Reid-Foley | 5 |
Derrick Loveless | 4 |
Francisco Rios | 4 |
Conor Fisk | 4 |
Justin Shafer | 3.83 |
Brad Allen | 3.5 |
Gunnar Heidt | 3.33 |
Jorge Flores | 2.83 |
David Harris | 2.5 |
Michael De La Cruz | 2.5 |
Luis Santos | 2.5 |
Christian Lopes | 2.33 |
Danny Jansen | 2.17 |
Jorge Saez | 2 |
Mike Reeves | 1.67 |
Jon Harris | 1.5 |
L.B. Dantzler | 1.33 |
Michael Bourn | 1 |
Matt Dean | 1 |
Max Pentecost | 1 |
Alonzo Gonzalez | 0.83 |
Jose Fernandez | 0.5 |
Ryan Borucki | 0.5 |
Taylor Cole | 0.5 |
Josh Almonte | 0.5 |
Chris Colabello | 0.5 |
Tim Mayza | 0.5 |
It was a close race for the Player of the Game Champion but Ryan “McBoom” McBroom wins it by a mighty bat length. McBroom edged out Jonathan “J.D.” Davis who had a fantastic season in his first healthy year in a long time. Richard Urena, had he not been promoted to New Hampshire, could easily have contended too.
Blue Jays from Away Player of the Year
As big of a season that Ryan McBroom had for the D-Jays, Jonathan Davis was able to do more things better to win our Player of the Year Award. McBroom may have led the club with 21 home runs and 83 RBI but Davis’s .376 OBP (more than 50 points higher than McBroom’s) while still posting a very strong .441 slugging percentage actually gave him an .818 OPS. In addition to the excellent on-base numbers, Davis stole 33 bases and hit his share of extra-base hits (21 doubles, eight triples and 14 home runs) over the course of 120 games.
Honourable mention: Ryan McBroom, Richard Urena
Blue Jays from Away Pitcher of the Year
The Pitcher of the Year award is very tough to award this year for the Dunedin Blue Jays. The best starters for the club were either promoted part-way through the season or had solid but not spectacular seasons. I try to not give this award to a reliever, primarily because they have their own award. This year, I decided to award the Pitcher of the Year to a pitcher who was so dominant in the Florida State League that it increased his trade value enough for the Blue Jays to send him away at the deadline. Colton Turner allowed two(!) runs in 31 2/3 innings over 26 games for a 0.57 ERA with a 0.88 WHIP while walking only nine batters and striking out a whopping 47 (13.4 strikeouts per nine innings). It’s a level of dominance not seen in a long time.
Honourable mention: Conor Fisk, Sean Reid-Foley, Tim Mayza
Blue Jays from Away Reliever of the Year
I’m certainly not going to give two awards to a pitcher who isn’t in the Blue Jays’ organization any more so this one will go to a reliever who was extremely dominant in the Florida State League, despite his struggles up a level in Double-A. Tim Mayza, 24, struck out 26.1% of batters and walked 7.5% in 48 1/3 innings, posting a 1.66 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
Honourable mention: Dusty Isaacs, Matt Dermody, Carlos Ramirez, Alonzo Gonzalez
Blue Jays from Away Most Improved Player
2014 was a year in which Kendall Graveman pitched at five levels, including the highest there is, making it all the way from Lansing to Toronto, stopping for a breather at each step along the way. In 2016, we saw Matt Dermody nearly duplicate that feat, going from a 4.21 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in Dunedin in 2015, to a combined 1.82 ERA and 1.16 WHIP at three minor league levels before getting the call to the majors in September.
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