Jacksonville Suns left fielder Austin Dean is tied for the Southern League lead in RBI with 17. He discusses his strong start to the season with Suns Broadcaster Roger Hoover.
Jacksonville Suns left fielder Austin Dean is off to a great start at the plate in 2016. Consistently batting third in the Suns order, Dean has driven in 17 runs during the first 21 games of the season.
Dean's 17 RBI is tied for the Southern League with teammate J.T. Riddle, whom was profiled on Fish Stripes two weeks ago here.
Dean is in his first year playing at the Double-A level, and through the first 21 games he is hitting .286 with one home run and his 17 RBI. Many of his runs batted in have come in bunches, with five multi-RBI games this season.
Dean was a 2015 Florida State League Midseason All-Star with High-A Jupiter, where he hit .268 with five homers and 52 RBI in 136 games for the Jupiter Hammerheads. Dean also shined in 2015 in the Arizona Fall League where he was named a "Rising Star" after hitting .323 with 7 RBI and an inside-the-park home run for the Mesa Solar Sox.
Dean is listed by Baseball America as the Marlins No.7 prospect entering 2016, and he was selected by Miami in the fourth round of the 2012 draft out of Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas.
Dean discussed his great start to the 2016 season with me on the Suns Baseball Network, and the full interview can be heard here.
Hoover: Well Austin you're off to a pretty good start this year, how have you felt at the plate so far?
Dean: I feel pretty good. I'm not where I want to be at yet but it's early in the season and we have 140 games so I'll figure it out by then.
Hoover: What's been the biggest adjustment to Double-A baseball for you?
Dean: There hasn't been a lot of change from A-ball to Double-A. Still it's just the game of baseball to me. Here and there you learn a few things but it's still the same game.
Hoover: Do you really enjoy getting to play in Jacksonville with the Suns?
Dean: Absolutely. I'm glad to have have David Berg back as a manager, he's by far the best manager I've ever had in the Marlins organization. I'm pretty familiar with his coaching style and he's a guy that has my back 100 percent. Jacksonville's the best place I've played so far.
Hoover: What makes Berg such a good manager?
Dean: He can relate to players and there's just something about him, he just drives us and makes us want to win.
Hoover: You signed with the Marlins out of high school, was it different for you being younger than a lot of your teammates at some of the lower levels in the minors?
Dean: Absolutely. A lot of those guys that played college, they had a little bit more knowledge than I did, so playing with those older guys, I felt like it helped me out a lot. Certain guys that helped me out, like Carlos Lopez helped me out a little bit, and other guys around the organization too. I would just nitpick and take information from them and put that into my game.
Hoover: You also had a cool experience this offseason getting to play in the Arizona Fall League, what was that like and I'm sure that's some of the best pitching you've ever faced.
Dean: Awesome. They treat you like a big leaguer out there, so it was a good little taste of what a dream coming into reality can feel like. I had a lot of fun out there, met some nice people that I know I'll eventually probably play in this league so it's good to build some friendships out there and kind of get a taste of what the big leagues will be like.
Hoover: What are you going to keep working on over these next few weeks as you keep getting more comfortable in Double-A?
Dean: Just keep playing more games, I know it's early and we're off to an o.k. start, but I know what this team's all about. I've played with most of these guys for about 4-5 years so I know what we're capable of doing and I really expect good things out of this ball club.
The Suns look forward to teaming up with Fish Stripes all season long to give you these Jacksonville Suns reports. You can also find more information about the Suns by visiting our official website: jaxsuns.com, blog: sunsradio.com, Facebook page, Twitter page, and by listening to The Jacksonville Suns Podcast.