BLUE JAYS ANNOUNCE 2010 WEBSTER AWARD WINNERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE courtesy of the Toronto Blue jays

TORONTO, ONTARIO

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

  The TORONTO BLUE JAYS are pleased to announce the following players have been selected as this year’s recipients of the R. HOWARD WEBSTER AWARDS, recognizing the most valuable players at each of the Club’s minor league affiliated teams: C J.P. ARENCIBIA (AAA), OF ERIC THAMES (AA), 1B MIKE McDADE (A), INF SEAN OCHINKO (Low-A), C CARLOS PEREZ (Short-A), OF JACOB MARISNICK (Rookie)  and RHP EYERYS GUERRERO (DSL).

        PEREZ (DSL – 2008, GCL – 2009, Auburn – 2010) becomes the fourth player in the history of the club to win three or more WEBSTER AWARDS, joining CARLOS DELGADO, LUIS LOPEZ & ADAM LIND. OCHINKO (Auburn – 2009, Lansing – 2010) becomes the 23^rd player in Blue Jays history to win two or more awards. The rest are first time winners.

J.P. ARENCIBIA (Catcher) – .301, 32 HR & 85 RBI
6-1, 210, Age-24, Born-Miami, FL
Bats: Right   Throws: Right
Las Vegas – Pacific Coast League (AAA)

·       Pacific Coast League MVP
·       3^rd in the Pacific Coast League in HR (32), Slug (.986) and XBH (70)
·       Pacific Coast League mid and year end All-Star selection
·       His 32 home runs is the 3^rd highest total for a Blue Jays minor leaguer
·       Hit two home runs in his ML Debut, Aug. 7 vs. TB, including his first at-bat
·       Became just the 5^th player in ML history to hit two home runs in his first game and the 1^st in the modern era to collect four hits and two home runs in his ML debut

ERIC THAMES (Outfielder) – .288, 27 HR & 104 RBI
6-0, 205, Age-23, Born-Santa Clara, CA
Bats: Left   Throws: Right
New Hampshire Fisher Cats – Eastern League (AA)

·       Led the organization (minors) with 104 RBI
·       Led Eastern League in RBI (104), T-1^st in XBH (58) & T-2^nd in HR (27).
·       Named an Eastern League Mid-Season & Post-Season All-Star

MIKE McDADE (First Baseman) – .267, 21 HR, 64 RBI  
6-1, 260, Age-21, Born-Las Vegas, Nevada
Bats: Both   Throws: Right
Dunedin Blue Jays – Florida State League (A Advanced)

·       Led the Florida State League in HR (21), 2^nd in TB (215) & was 4^th in Slug (.448)
·       Led Dunedin in HR (21), RBI (64), TB (215), Hits (128) & Runs (60)
·       Has hit 37 home runs over the past two seasons

SEAN OCHINKO (Infielder) – .311, 8 HR, 65 RBI
5-11, 205, Age-22, Born-Parkland, FL
Bats: Right   Throws: Right
Lansing Lugnuts – Midwest League (A)

·       Wins 2^nd consecutive Webster Award, after winning last year with Auburn.
·       Finished 5^th in the Midwest League with a .311 average
·       Led the Lugnuts in batting (.311) & doubles (37)

CARLOS PEREZ (Catcher) – .298, 2 HR, 41 RBI
6-0, 193, Age-19, Born-Valencia, Venezuela
Bats: Right   Throws: Right
Auburn Doubledays – New York-Penn League (A-short)

·       Becomes only the fourth player in Blue Jays history to win the Webster Award three times
·       Named a New York-Penn League Mid-Season All-Star
·       Ranked 3^rd in the NY-Penn League with eight triples
·       Led the Doubledays in batting (.298), on-base (.396) and RBI (41)

JACOB MARISNICK (Outfielder) – .253, 4 HR & 26 RBI
6-4, 200, Age-19, Born-Riverside, CA
Bats: Right   Throws: Right
Gulf Coast Blue Jays – Gulf Coast League (Rookie)

·       Combined to hit .253 with four home runs and 26 RBI for the Gulf Coast Blue Jays & Lansing Lugnuts
·       Batted .287 with three home runs and 14 RBI for the Blue Jays Gulf Coast entry.
·       Selected in the 3^rd round of the 2009 draft

EYERYS GUERRERO (Pitcher)– 1-2, 3.23 ERA, 39 IP, 40 H, 6 BB, 11 K
6-3, 208, Age-17, Born-Bani, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right   Throws: Right
DSL Blue Jays – Dominican Summer League

·       Walked only 1.4 batters per nine innings, starting nine of his 13 games

Other Webster winners on Toronto’s current Major League roster include AARON HILL (New Hampshire – 2004) ADAM LIND (3, Auburn – 2004, Dunedin – 2005, New Hampshire – 2006), DAVID PURCEY (Syracuse – 2008), TRAVIS SNIDER (2, Pulaski – 2006, Lansing – 2007), BRETT CECIL (Auburn – 2007) and MARC RZEPCZYNSKI (Lansing – 2008).