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AA St. Paul Saints

League's Lone .400 Hitter, Vinny DiFazio Named Rawlings AA Player of the Month for June

July 2, 2015 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (July 2, 2015) - Many players in the American Association would gladly take the numbers Vinny DiFazio put up in the month of June...for their entire season. The blazing hot catcher used his otherworldly hitting streak during the month to propel him to the Rawlings American Association Player of the Month for June.

DiFazio hit .393 with seven home runs and 27 RBI in 22 games during June. In 89 at bats he scored 20 runs, roped four doubles, one triple, had an on base percentage of .449, a .697 slugging percentage and a 1.146 OPS.

Within the month he had a 12 game hitting streak (29-54, .537) from June 10-23 and the final 11 games of that streak were all multi-hit games (28-50, .560) from June 12-23. On top of that he had an RBI in a career high nine straight games (17) from June 10-20, which surpassed his previous career high of seven, which he set earlier in the season. On two separate occasions during June, DiFazio homered in back-to-back games, on June 14 at Sioux Falls and June 15 at Winnipeg and June 22 and 23 vs. Sioux City. He was named Pointstreak American Association Player of the Week for the week of June 15-21.

Overall DiFazio is hitting .405 with eight homers and 34 RBI in 28 games. In 111 at bats he has scored 26 runs, has five doubles, one triple, a .460 on base percentage, a .685 slugging percentage and an astounding 1.144 OPS. He is the lone hitter in the American Association hitting over .400 and is also first in the league in slugging percentage, tied for second in home runs and third in RBI and on-base percentage (.460). Behind the plate he's also helped guide the Saints pitching staff to the best ERA in the league.

The 28-year-old DiFazio spent the end of 2014 with the Saints and hit .256 with three RBI in 14 games after being released by the Grand Prairie AirHogs in the American Association. He began the season with the AirHogs and hit .238 with two home runs and 20 RBI in 62 games. In 223 at bats he scored 27 runs, amassed 15 doubles, a .341 on base percentage and a .347 slugging percentage. More importantly he was tremendous behind the dish throwing out 25.6% of would be base stealers, good for sixth best in the American Association.

DiFazio was originally selected in the 46th round of the 2006 June First Year Player Draft by the Baltimore Orioles out of Indian River Community College (Fort Pierce, FL), but elected not to sign. He helped his draft status by going to the University of Alabama and was selected in the 12th round by the Texas Rangers in 2009.

In his first season DiFazio was selected to the Northwest League Post-Season All-Star Team while having a solid inaugural campaign hitting .274 with seven homers and 29 RBI with the Spokane Indians. He was promoted for the solid first half of the season and finished the year at Single-A Hickory and hit .290 with five homers and 17 RBI in 18 games.

In 2010 DiFazio dealt with a torn oblique muscle after beginning the season at Hickory. He worked his way back after rehabbing in the Arizona League and eventually reached High-A Bakersfield. Between the three stops he hit .275 with 12 homers and 37 RBI in 59 games.

DiFazio spent both 2011 and 2012 at High-A Myrtle Beach before missing all of last season.

DiFazio is the first Saints position player to earn the Player of the Month honors since Brent Krause did it back in May, 2007. The last Player of the Month honor the Saints received was pitcher Robert Coe in July, 2012.

Rawlings is the official baseball of the American Association. They are located in St. Louis, MO and are the official helmet of Major League Baseball and the exclusive supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball since 1977. For more information about Rawlings go to: http://www.rawlings.com.

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