Blue Jays: Chavez Young garners praise from General Manager

TORONTO, ON - JUNE 29: General manager Ross Atkins of the Toronto Blue Jays speaks to members of the media before the start of MLB game action against the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre on June 29, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 29: General manager Ross Atkins of the Toronto Blue Jays speaks to members of the media before the start of MLB game action against the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre on June 29, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins had high praise for Chavez Young during his season-ending post-mortem with the media.

It is very easier to overlook some promising minor leaguers in the Blue Jays farm system due to their organizational depth and the focus being primarily targeted on the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

However, Ross Atkins made a point to give props to Chavez Young yesterday when reporters posed a question about minor leaguers who impressed the General Manager in 2018. The Jays drafted the Bahamas native in the 39th round, 1182nd overall in the 2016 amateur draft. That is not a typo folks, 1182nd overall, and we are talking about this kid.

The 21-year old made the jump to Single-A playing in Lansing for the entire 2018 campaign and impressed in all facets of the game. Young hit .285/.363/.445 with 134 hits, 8 homers, and 44 stolen bases in 125 games with the Lugnuts.

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The young outfielder split time between centre and right field accumulating 15 outfield assists along with 290 putouts and a .984 fielding percentage. He was also the only player with 50 extra base hits and 40+ stolen bases in the entire minor league ranks.

In 213 professional games over parts of three seasons, Young is hitting .283/.353/.444 with 229 hits including 12 homers and 54 swipes.

Young looks like he has the right mindset and already appears to have a plan in place to remain grounded as he climbs the minor league ranks. Young recently spoke to the Lansing State Journal about his frame of mind.

Coming from a late-round draft guy, I’ve just had to work for everything, I never forget that this is my dream job. I always have got to have fun doing it, no matter where I’m at. I’ve got to be even-keeled through the bad days and the good days. I’ve got to stay on that even plane always and keep having fun. The hard work will pay off.”

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Shockingly, Young is still not ranked in the Blue Jays Top 30 prospects organizationally by MLB.com. Look for that to change when the newest rankings are released. The future is very bright for Mr. Young just ask the Blue Jays brain trust.