SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Dean Southern League Player of Month for April

Published on May 2, 2018 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


BILOXI, Miss. - Former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp left fielder Austin Dean has been named the Southern League's Player of the Month for April, announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.

Dean, who was called up from the Jumbo Shrimp to Triple-A New Orleans on April 29, hit .420 with three home runs and 14 runs batted in during his time with the Jumbo Shrimp.

"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."

In 22 games before his call up, Dean hit .420 (34-for-81), the best batting average in the Southern League, second-best in Double-A, and fourth-best in all of Minor League Baseball.

With 34 hits, he also was second in MiLB behind Triple-A Albuquerque's Daniel Castro, who had 36. In 22 games played, Dean had hits in 18 of them (one game no official at-bat), with 11 of those games being multi-hit games.

Dean's second week of the season garnered Southern League honors as the "Player of the Week" for April 16-22. In that week in seven games, Dean hit .520 (13-for-25) with two home runs, six runs batted in, three doubles, and six runs scored.

"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."

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.

Dean also embraced being back in Jacksonville, frequently getting on the public address microphone after Jumbo Shrimp wins to lead the packed Baseball Grounds crowd in a "DUUUVAL" chant.

The Jumbo Shrimp begin a five-game series with the Biloxi Shuckers tonight at MGM Park at 7:35 p.m. eastern. Right-handed pitcher Nick Neidert (2-1, 4.12 ERA) will start for Jacksonville against Biloxi right-handed pitcher Thomas Jankins (4-0, 2.55 ERA). Fans can listen to the game on the Jumbo Shrimp Network presented by Community First, beginning at 7:20 p.m. with the pregame show "Shrimp On Deck" locally on Sunny 102.3 FM, on the TuneIn Radio app, and www.jaxshrimp.com.

Check out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Southern League Stories from May 2, 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.

OurSports Central