Rogers and Barnes Collect Southern League Weekly Honors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Suns swept the Southern League weekly honors for the week of July 14-20, with catcher and infielder Austin Barnes named the Player of the Week, and Jay Rogers the league's Pitcher of the Week announced by Minor League Baseball on Monday.
During the week, Barnes hit .421 (8-for-19) with three home runs and seven runs batted in. Barnes also had three multi-hit games during the six games he played in.
The performances that pushed Barnes to winning the weekly honor came in the final two games of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos series at Bragan Field on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, with the Suns trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Barnes smashed his first Suns home run of the season to give Jacksonville a 3-2 lead, with the Suns going on to win 6-2. It was Barnes' second personal home run this season, and his first since April 8 when he was with the Jupiter Hammerheads in High-A.
Barnes then continued his home run tear into yesterday's game, blasting two home runs to key the Suns to a 5-2 win over the Wahoos, allowing Jacksonville to take four out of five games in the series. The two home run performance was the first multi-homer game of Barnes' career.
Barnes began the season with High-A Jupiter, where he was a Florida State League Midseason All-Star, hitting .296 with a home run and 19 RBI in 57 games before he was promoted to Jacksonville on June 1. Even when Southern League All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto returned from the Miami Marlins on June 19, Barnes has stayed in the lineup, seeing playing time at second and third base. Coming into tonight's game, Barnes is hitting .281 with three homers and 21 RBI in 37 games with the Suns.
Barnes was selected by the Marlins in the ninth round of the 2011 draft out of Arizona State, and is listed by Baseball America as the No. 20 prospect in the Miami organization.
Rogers turned in one of his most dominant outings in his professional career in game one of last Thursday's doubleheader with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on July 17. Rogers pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout victory where he only allowed a base hit. Rogers only walked one batter and struck out nine, and the lone hit wasn't hit out of the infield. Rogers also retired the last 14 batters he faced in order, and no Pensacola baserunner reached second base.
Rogers this season with Jacksonville is 5-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 10 starts. Over his last four starts Rogers is 3-0 with two wins over the Wahoos and one against Tennessee. In his last four starts, Rogers has a 1.85 ERA with 16 strikeouts compared to four walks in 24 and a third innings pitched.
Rogers, who began the season with Triple-A New Orleans, was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 36th round of the 2010 draft out of Rice University.
Rogers becomes the sixth Sun to earn Southern League weekly honors on the 2014 season, joining Brady Shoemaker (April 3 - 13), Andrew Heaney (April 14 - 20) and J.T. Realmuto (April 14 - 20), and Justin Nicolino (June 16 - 23), and Barnes, this week's Player of the Week.
The Suns will welcome the Birmingham Barons to town on Monday for six games in five days, with the first pitch of Monday's series-opening ballgame set for 7:05 p.m. ET. The Suns are yet to announce their starter while the Barons will throw out left-hander Scott Snodgress (5-7, 4.14).
Suns fans can listen to Monday's game on the Suns Baseball Network, 94.1 WSOS-FM or through www.jaxsuns.com, MiLB.com or the Suns iPhone or Android app, beginning at 6:50 p.m. ET with the Memorial Hospital Suns Pregame Show.
The 2014 season of Suns baseball is presented by EverBank, the official banking partner of the Jacksonville Suns. Sponsorships, group outings, and season / individual game tickets are currently available by calling the Suns front office at (904) 358-2846.