University of Tennessee Athletics
Pros Update: Stewart Named Player of the Year
September 29, 2016 | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- With the minor league season of 2016 now complete, Tennessee Baseball witnessed 19 former players make appearances in professional baseball this year.
Last week, VFL Christin Stewart was named the Detroit Tigers' Minor League Player of the Year. Stewart, a first-round selection by Detroit in 2015, combined for 30 home runs and 87 RBI over the two stops with Class A-Advanced Lakeland and Double A Erie.
On the Major League circuit, VFL Zack Godley has pitched 8.2 innings over his last four appearances with Arizona while allowing two runs. During that span, Godley has struck out 11 batters while walking only two.
Major Leagues
R.A. Dickey -- SP, Toronto Blue Jays
Season: 10-15, 4.46 ERA, 30 G, 169.2 IP, 169 H, 97 R, 84 ER, 63 BB, 126 K
Dickey has appeared in three games in September for the Blue Jays. In his most recent start on Sept. 16, the righty threw 5.0 scoreless innings, allowed seven hits and struck out five batters. The performance earned him his 10th win of the season.
Zack Godley -- SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks: 5-4, 6.19 ERA, 25 G, 72.2 IP, 81 H, 51 R, 50 ER, 25 BB, 58 K
Mobile BayBears Season: 2-5, 3.83 ERA, 8 G, 49.1 IP, 48 H, 27 R, 21 ER, 11 BB, 31 K
Reno Aces Season: 2-1, 3.31 ERA, 7 G, 32.2 IP, 37 H, 16 R, 12 ER, 15 BB, 38 K
Godley has pitched in nine games in the month of September. On Sept. 26, Godley pitched three shutout innings against Washington while only allowing one hit and striking out three.
Yan Gomes -- C, Indians
Season: .165, 71 G, 41 H, 21 R, 11 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 32 RBI
On July 18th, Gomes was placed on the Cleveland Indians' 60-day disabled list with a separated right shoulder.
Chase Headley -- 3B, Yankees
Season: .250, 137 G, 115 H, 55 R, 16 2B, 1 3B, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 7 SB
Headley appeared in 24 games over the past three weeks for the Yankees. During that span, he collected 20 hits, including three home runs, and 10 RBI. Headley went 2-for-5, drove in a run and had a stolen base on Sept. 15 at Boston.
Luke Hochevar -- RP, Kansas City Royals
Season: 2-3, 3.86 ERA, 40 G, 37.1 IP, 31 H, 17 R, 16 ER, 9 BB, 40 K
On July 28th, Hochevar was placed on the Kansas City Royals' disabled list due to thoracic outlet syndrome.
Minor Leagues
J.P. Arencibia -- C, Durham Bulls (AAA - Tampa Bay Rays)
Lehigh Valley IronPigs Season: .167, 12 G, 8 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI
Durham Bulls: .252, 78 G, 78 H, 14 2B, 15 HR, 34 R, 47 RBI, 1 SB
Arencibia finished the season with Tampa Bay's Durham Bulls and collected 15 hits, 3 home runs and 13 RBI over his final 10 games. He led the Bulls for a second consecutive season with 15 homers in 2016.
Julio Borbon -- CF, Bowie Baysox (AA - Baltimore Orioles)
Baltimore Orioles (MLB): .308, 6 G, 4 H, 1 R
Bowie Baysox Season: .276, 111 G, 117 H, 61 R, 11 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 30 SB
Borbon finished the season with the Bowie Baysox. On Sept. 2, Borbon went 2-for-4, recording his 11th double of the season. His 30 stolen bases on the year were tops among the Baysox, while his 424 at-bats in 111 games were the second most on the team in 2016.
Andy Cox -- P, Billings Mustangs (Rookie - Cincinnati Reds)
Season: 3-0, 1 SV, 4.59 ERA, 24 G, 33.1 IP, 33 H, 22 R, 17 ER, 20 BB, 27 K
Cox and Billings played deep into the minor league postseason, advancing all the way to the championship series of the Pioneer League. Billings lost in two games to the Orem Owls.
Matt Duffy -- INF/OF, Round Rock Express (AAA - Texas Rangers)
Houston Astros Season (MLB): .000, 3 G, 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI
Fresno Grizzlies Season: .226, 74 G, 60 H, 36 R, 13 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 1 SB
Round Rock Express Season: .237, 35 G, 32 H, 17 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 22 RBI, 8 HR
Duffy played in 11 games over the past three weeks for the Round Rock Express. In his last outing of the season on Sept. 5, he recorded two home runs and two RBI.
Vincent Jackson -- OF, State College Spikes (A-Short - St. Louis Cardinals)
Season: .233, 70 G, 62 H, 39 R, 13 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 45 RBI, 16 SB
Jackson and State College swept Hudson Valley to win the New York-Penn League Championship title. In Game One of the series against Hudson Valley, Jackson went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
Andrew Lee -- SP, Hagerstown Suns (A - Washington Nationals)
Season: 2-2, 3.71 ERA, 11 G, 51.0 IP, 45 H, 25 R, 21 ER, 18 BB, 46 K
Lee did not appear in any games over the final weeks of the season while spending time on the Hagerstown Suns 7-day Disabled List (since June 7th).
Will Maddox -- INF, West Michigan Whitecaps (A - Detroit Tigers)
Season: .339, 127 G, 173 H, 59 R, 23 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 58 RBI, 28 SB
Maddox appeared in 12 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps over the final weeks of the season. On August 31, the second baseman recorded an RBI-double and was walked two times. West Michigan lost in three games in the Midwest League Championship to Great Lakes, but not before Maddox set a new single-season hits record for the Whitecaps with 173 on the year.
Khayyan Norfork -- 3B, Harrisburg Senators (AA - Washington Nationals)
Potomac Nationals Season: .252, 42 G, 34 H, 16 R, 5 2B, 16 RBI, 5 SB
Harrisburg Senators Season: .164, 36 G, 12 H, 8 R, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Syracuse Season: .000, 1 G, 1 R
Norfork appeared in six games over the final three weeks of the season for the Harrisburg Senators and one game for Syracuse. In his last appearance with the Senators, Norfork recorded two hits, including his third double of the season, and scored one run.
Zach Osborne -- SS, Hartford Yard Goats (AA - Colorado Rockies)
Season: .238, 64 G, 49 H, 22 R, 7 2B, 14 RBI, 1 SB
Osborne was activated from the 7-day disabled list by the Hartford Yard Goats on Sept. 2. After returning for Hartford's final five games of the season, the shortstop tallied two hits and two RBI during that span.
Drake Owenby -- P, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A - Milwaukee Brewers)
Season: 3-1, 2 SV, 2.67 ERA, 17 G, 67.1 IP, 64 H, 28 R, 20 ER, 21 BB, 65 K
Owenby did not appear in any games over the final three weeks of the season while spending time on the 7-day disabled List with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (since July 14th).
Nick Senzel -- 3B, Dayton Dragons (A - Cincinnati Reds)
Dayton Dragons Season: .329, 58 G, 69 H, 38 R, 23 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 36 RBI, 15 SB
Billings Mustangs Season: .152, 10 G, 5 H, 3 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Senzel appeared in 10 games over the last three weeks of the season for the Dayton Dragons. In his Sept. 3 appearance, Senzel went 4-for-5, hit two doubles and a triple, and scored three runs. He finished the season with a .329 batting average, the second best mark on the team, while his seven home runs were third-most by a Dragons player this year. His 23 doubles in 105 games were tied for second-most on the squad and his 36 RBI tied for third among Dayton batters in 2016.
A.J. Simcox -- SS, Lakeland Flying Tigers (A-Advanced - Detroit Tigers)
Season: .262, 127 G, 138 H, 76 R, 19 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 51 RBI, 7 SB
In his final outing of the season with the Flying Tigers, Simcox went 1-for-3 and drove in one run. He also hit a sacrifice fly and scored twice. On the year, Simcox led the Flying Tigers with 76 runs scored, 138 hits and five triples while his seven stolen bases were second-most among his teammates. His 127 games also played marked the most by any Lakeland player in 2016.
Drew Steckenrider -- RP, New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA - Miami Marlins)
Jupiter Hammerheads Season: 0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA, 6 G, 10.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 17 K
Jacksonville Suns Season: 1-0, 6 SV, 1.48 ERA, 24 G, 30.1 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 10 BB, 39 K
New Orleans Zephyrs Season: 0-1, 7 SV, 5.40 ERA, 10 G, 11.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 15 K
In his final outing of the season, Steckenrider earned his seventh save with New Orleans (Sept. 3). He allowed one hit through 1.0 innings of work.
Christin Stewart -- OF, Erie Sea Wolves (AA - Detroit Tigers)
Lakeland Flying Tigers: .264, 104 G, 94 H, 60 R, 22 2B, 1 3B, 24 HR, 68 RBI, 3 SB
Erie Sea Wolves: .218, 24 G, 19 H, 17 R, 2 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI
Stewart hit home runs in four of his last five games, including a three game stretch between Sept. 1-3, en route to earning Detroit Tigers Minor League Player of the Year honors in 2016. In his final outing of the season, he went 2-for-6 and drove in four runs.
Prior to his arrival at Double A Erie in August, Stewart led his Lakeland Flying Tigers with 24 home runs and 68 RBI, earning him Florida State League All-Star honors. Stewart went on to knock six homers and collect 19 RBI over 24 games to finish the season with Erie.
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