Walt Disney once said, "The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin walking."
In a game that featured 24 runs -- all but five by Toronto's Single-A affiliate Dunedin -- just one homer and the pro debut of first-round pick Trey Yesavage, it was the collective patience of the Blue Jays' prospects that deserved the headlines.
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Dunedin walked 22 times against seven Jupiter hurlers en route to a 19-5 win on Tuesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Eight of the baby birds' starting nine earned at least two free passes.
The 22 bases on balls was the most by a full-season Minor League team since at least 2005, surpassing the 20 Augusta picked up in an 11-10 loss to Fayetteville on May 21, 2021. The Major League record for walks (19) was set by the 1971 Washington Senators.
Dunedin turned two walks in the opening inning into a run, which proved a harbinger of things to come. The offense scored in all of the first five frames, highlighted by a seven-run third that included four free passes, an error, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and two extra-base hits.
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Dunedin parlayed two walks in the opening inning into a run, which proved a harbinger of things to come. The offense scored all of its runs in the first five frames via small ball, highlighted by a seven-run third that included four free passes, an error, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and two extra-base hits.
The Blue Jays took the field in the bottom of the fifth holding an 18-2 lead on only six hits. Yeuni Munoz, who drove in a career-high five runs and walked twice, hit the game's only homer in the ninth for Dunedin. J.R. Freethy and Sam Shaw -- the top two hitters in the Blue Jays lineup -- were a combined 1-for-5 but scored seven times, earned four walks and were on base 10 times in 14 plate appearances.
But it might have been a Jupiter hitter who produced the strangest stat line of the night. Hammerheads leadoff man Starlyn Caba (MIA No. 2/MLB No. 78) walked in all five of his plate appearances, scored two runs and swiped two bases.
All told, the two teams combined for 437 pitches, 32 walks, four hit-by-pitches, three pitch-clock violations and a balk during the 3:39 game.
The game was also notable for being the pro debut of Yesavage (TOR No. 2/MLB No. 85). Toronto's first-round pick (24th overall) in the 2024 Draft allowed two unearned runs on one hit and six walks while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings for Dunedin. The 21-year-old was Toronto's first-round pick (24th overall) in last summer's Draft.