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Nay's hot month continues for Lugnuts

Toronto's No. 6 prospect goes 3-for-5 with home run and four RBIs
May 13, 2014

After a productive April, Mitch Nay is lighting it up in May.

The Blue Jays' No. 6 prospect collected three hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs Monday in Class A Lansing's 11-4 win at Bowling Green.

"I just felt comfortable," Nay said. "I was seeing the ball well. I was ready on time. I had like four or five good at-bats. Today was a good day. I got good pitches to hit and took advantage of it."

Toronto's first-round pick (No. 58 overall) from the 2012 Draft singled and scored in the first inning before flying out to end the second. With two on and one out in the fourth, he greeted new Hot Rods pitcher Jorge Rodriguez by driving an offering over the fence in left-center field for his second homer of the season.

"I got my pitch and I got it out front and it felt pretty good," Nay said. "It went out and I'm pretty happy about it."

The Arizona native grounded out in the sixth and drew a bases-loaded walk an inning later. His night ended with a single to left in the ninth.

Both of Nay's long balls have come in May, during which he's batting .333/.392/.467 with eight RBIs over 11 games. He already has a trio of three-hit games this month. 

"Early on, I was pretty steady with getting my base hits here and there," the third baseman said. "But I think in the last couple weeks, I've started swinging a little bit more for power. I'm kind of implementing that a little bit more, trying to find a way to get little bit more load going."

In 36 games this year, Nay owns a .304/.359/.413 slash line with seven doubles and a triple. He has driven in 22 runs, taking 13 walks while striking out 22 times.

While the 20-year-old is focusing on honing his power stroke, there is not a specific total of roundtrippers he's attemping to reach. Last year, Nay's first in professional baseball, he went yard six times in 64 games for Rookie-level Bluefield.

"I just really want to hit balls hard like I know I can," Nay said, "and at the end of the day have good at-bats and learn more about hitting as this year progresses. I think that's my goal. I'm not going to put a number on anything because it just kind of can stress you out a little bit. Just become a better hitter would be my goal this year."

Nay was not the only Lugnuts hitter to go deep Monday. D.J. Davis, the Blue Jays' No. 5 prospect, smacked his third homer with one on in the second, and Derrick Loveless launched a solo shot in the ninth.

Dawel Lugo, Toronto's No. 9 prospect, collected four hits. In five at-bats, the shortstop collected four singles and an RBI.

"He's a good kid. I really like playing with him," Nay said. "The thing that impresses me about Lugo is his ability to barrel up pretty much any pitch in the zone. His hand-eye coordination is pretty good. And I really like Lugo in the field. He's really loose, got good hands."

The Lugnuts recorded 15 hits in the win, tying a season high.

Mark Emery is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Emery.