Joe Dunand heating up, nabs Player of the Week honors in AA

Former NC State IF (and nephew of Alex Rodriguez) Joe Dunand has had his share of ups and downs since being drafted in the 2nd round by the Miami Marlins last season.

After only 8 games combined between Rookie and A-ball in 2017, Dunand seemed poised to breakout in his first full season of pro ball. His .370 average and .667 slugging percentage in 2017 had many thinking that he’d be fast-tracked when 2018 rolled around. That hasn’t happened.

During the first half of 2018 he hit a decent .267 in A-Advanced, with 7 homers and 42 RBIs. That got him promoted to AA where he has struggled to acclimate.

Although he’s still only hitting .197, he has showed some signs of life over the past few weeks. In fact, this past week he was named Southern League Player of the Week thanks to an insane stretch where he logged 21 total bases and had a two day stretch where he had 7 consecutive hits (he posted an astronomical 1.298 over the week).

NEWS: We are excited to announce that @JaxShrimp infielder @Joedunand has been named Player of the Week, and @BiscuitBaseball southpaw @BrockBurke1 is the Pitcher of the Week.

DETAILS: https://t.co/16YuB4FizU pic.twitter.com/k7lI7GhR66

— The Southern League (@SLeagueBaseball) August 20, 2018

Last night he was at it again, going 1-3 with a double and 3 runs batted in.

Don’t look now but Dunand might be finally figuring things out at AA. If he continues this pace, there is a chance we see him in AAA early next season.