Blake Dunn was named the Double-A Southern League Player of the Month for his performance in July with the Chattanooga Lookouts. That’s the second time this season that Dunn has been named the player of the month. He also won the award in April when he was in the High-A Midwest League with the Dayton Dragons and hit .386/.539/.702 with 11 steals.
Dunn was even better in July than that. He played in 22 games for the Lookouts during the month and went 37-83. That’s a .446 batting average. He also walked 15 times and was hit by five pitches, giving him a .528 on-base percentage. The outfielder also hit for plenty of power, picking up five doubles, two triples, and four home runs. That led to a slugging percentage of .699. He also stole 17 bases in 19 tries during the month. Posting an OPS of 1.227 and stealing 17 bases on the month will certainly get you noticed.
As you likely expect from a player who has won the player of the month award twice in four months, Blake Dunn is having an outstanding season. He’s played in 47 games in High-A and now 44 more in Double-A and in his 412 plate appearances he’s hitting .323/.428/.503 with 42 stolen bases in 46 attempts. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that he’s remained on the field despite being hit by 27 (!) pitches this year.
After missing much of the first two seasons after he was drafted, it’s been a breakout season for Blake Dunn. Maybe all he ever needed was health and a chance. Like everyone, he missed 2020. In 2021 he missed much of the college season with an injury and then most of what remained of the minor league season after he was drafted due to a different injury. Then he missed much of 2022 with an injury. He’s crushed the ball since his sophomore season at Western Michigan in 2019, but staying on the field had been an issue for him.