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SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Dean Named Southern League Player of the Week

April 23, 2018 - Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Austin Dean
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Austin Dean
(Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Credit: David Rosenblum)

KODAK, Tenn. - Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Austin Dean has been named the Southern League Player of the Week for April 16-22, announced by the league office on Monday morning.

Over the past week in seven games, Dean hit .520 (13-for-25) with two home runs, six runs batted in, three doubles, and six runs scored.

"I've been trying to hit the ball hard and make good contact and get on base," said Dean. "That's been my approach this year."

Dean in 16 games is hitting .536 (30-for-56), which is the best batting average in all of Minor League Baseball entering Monday's games, and he also leads MiLB with 30 hits. Dean also has the best on-base percentage of any player in Double-A baseball (.581), which is second-best in MiLB.

Dean's week at the plate was capped on Sunday with a 3-for-5 performance against the Tennessee Smokies, where he hit two home runs and drove in a season-high four runs as Jacksonville had a season high in hits and runs, beating the Smokies 11-5 in Tennessee. It marked the third multi-homer game of Dean's career, as he also had two homers in a game on two occasions for Jacksonville in 2016.

"Dean is off to a great start," said Jumbo Shrimp manager Randy Ready. "Hopefully it lasts all the way through September, he's just off to a great start, looks very confident, he's getting good pitches to hit and is seeing the ball well and hitting the ball right on the screws."

In 16 games played, Dean has hits in 14 of them (one game no official at-bat), with 10 of those games being multi-hit games, including three straight during this road trip. Dean started the 2018 campaign with an 11 game hitting streak, hitting .550 (22-for-40) from April 5-18.

This is Dean's third consecutive year with Jacksonville, and he was a 2016 Southern League Midseason All-Star. Dean, 24, is a native of Spring, Texas, and was selected by the Marlins in the fourth round of the 2012 draft out of Klein Collins High School.

For Dean this is the first time he's been named a Southern League Player of the Week, and the second weekly honor of his career. On July 11, 2015 he was named the Florida State League Player of the Week for the High-A Jupiter Hammerheads.

Dean is the second Jumbo Shrimp player to earn a weekly Southern League award, as Jeff Brigham was honored as the league's Pitcher of the Week for April 5-15 last week. Pensacola right-handed pitcher Daniel Wright was honored as the league's Pitcher of the Week for this week.

The Jumbo Shrimp and Smokies will continue their series with the third game of the five-game set on Monday night at 7 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Max Duval (0-1, 11.00 ERA) will start for Jacksonville against Tennessee right-handed starter Thomas Hatch (1-0, 3.00 ERA). Fans can listen to the game on the Jumbo Shrimp Network presented by Community First, beginning at 6:45 p.m. eastern with the pregame show "Shrimp On Deck" locally on Sunny 102.3 FM, on the TuneIn Radio app, and www.jaxshrimp.com.

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Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Austin Dean
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Austin Dean
(David Rosenblum)		   



Southern League Stories from April 23, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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