“For five minutes you came within… y-you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they’d consider it a tragedy.” –
Ray Kinsella to Archie ‘Moonlight’ Graham in Field of Dreams

Vancouver Canadians Dawel Lugo

Dawel Lugo swings away for the Vancouver Canadians during the 2013 season.

cs_alumni_update_new_logoThe major league debut for 2013 Vancouver Canadians shortstop Dawel Lugo has been put on hold. The 23 year-old from Baní, Perava in the Dominican Republic was called up by the Detroit Tigers at the beginning of the week. He was summoned from Triple-A Toledo after third baseman Jeimer Candelario went on the 10-day disabled list with a wrist injury.

Lugo was assigned #18 with the Tigers but after two days of soaking in the views of Comerica Park from the third base dugout, he was sent back to the Mud Hens. Detroit needed two fresh arms for its bullpen in its series finale against Cleveland.

The right-handed hitting Lugo batted .284 with seven doubles, a triple and a home run but has drawn just one walk in 141 at-bats down in Toledo. That has been the continuation of a seven-year trend for the 6-foot-tall shortstop as he has heard ball four just 102 times in 2,513 at-bats so far in his minor league career.

Baseball America rated Lugo as the Tigers’ eighth-best prospect coming into the 2018 season after being traded from Arizona as part of the J.D. Martinez deal. Before that, he was the number 2 prospect in the Diamondbacks system in 2017 and was rated 9th in the Blue Jays system in 2013.

According to a BA scouting report, Lugo has the defensive chops for third base with a strong arm and good glove skills but may not have the power in his bat to profile at the hot corner. They add his bat would be sufficient for second base but there are doubts he has the skills to stick at the keystone position. However, Lugo has enough bat speed, hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition skills to make himself a tough out at the plate.

Baseball America believes Lugo will see time in the majors in the near future.

“Lugo isn’t all that far away from competing for a big league job. The former shortstop could end up at second or third base depending on team need. He doesn’t have exceptional upside, but he has a good chance at a solid big league career.”

Hopefully Lugo’s major league career will be more than two days spent in a dugout. On a personal note, I was hoping Lugo was going to head out west with the Tigers during their series in Seattle over the weekend. It would have been a good excuse to head down to Safeco Field (like I really need an excuse to begin with!).

Regardless, watch for Lugo’s picture to be added to the banner of your favourite C’s blog in the near future. He wore a major league uniform during at least one regular season contest and that’s enough to make it to the C’s Plus Baseball “Banner of Fame”.

It’s the same rationale I use for pitcher Sean Reid-Foley for claiming him as a former Vancouver Canadian though he never appeared on the mound during a game. He was at Nat Bailey Stadium in uniform for the 2014 playoffs and that’s good enough for me. This ruling is final! ;D

sean_reid_foley
Sean Reid-Foley at Nat Bailey Stadium during the 2014 Northwest League playoffs.

Here’s a list of the former C’s who have appeared on the website banner so far with the years they spent in Vancouver in parentheses.

  • Marcus Stroman (2012) / Roberto Osuna (2012)
  • Dalton Pompey (2012) / Daniel Norris (2012)
  • Matt Dermody (2013) / Miguel Castro (2014)
  • Franklin Barreto (2014) / Richard Urena (2014)
  • Dwight Smith Jr. (2012) / Chase De Jong (2013)
  • Tim Mayza (2014) / Ian Parmley (2012-2013)
  • Carlos Ramirez (2012) / Taylor Cole (2011-2012)
  • Jairo Labourt (2013-2014) / Tim Locastro (2014)

If you are detecting a pattern, it’s two players for each banner. Who will be the next former Vancouver Canadian to make it to the show? Lugo will need some company up there so hopefully the identity of the next C’s player to reach the bigs will be revealed in the not-too-distant future.

C-Tweets

cs-tweetHere’s the latest batch of tweets from or about the Vancouver Canadians from former players, broadcasters, bloggers and other persons of interest. Among the tweets saw some former C’s wish their Moms a Happy Mother’s Day as well as video highlights, player interviews and more Kevin Smith observations about his Lugnuts teammates.

May 12

May 13

 May 14

May 15

 May 16

May 17

TRUTH!

May 17

May 18

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Published by Niall O'Donohoe

My name is Niall O’Donohoe and I am an avid follower of baseball. My blog beginnings began in 2007 with Batter’s Box under the alias #2JBrumfield. The blog formerly known as Niall On Baseball, C’s Plus Baseball strives to deliver plus coverage of the C’s through photos, observations and interviews of the players striving to make it to the major leagues. If you like what you see here, please spread the word about CsPlusBaseball.ca through your favourite social media platform. This blog began just before the C's championship season in 2017 and the goal is to deliver awesome content about Canada’s only affiliated professional minor league baseball club. Thanks a million for being here!

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