51s can tout success, despite losing record

The 51s got off to a slow start this season and never recovered in their first year as Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, whose top farm team has suffered nine straight losing seasons.

But Las Vegas (71-73) finished the season strong, going 45-33 down the stretch, and promoted 20 players to Toronto.

"We had some guys who went up and got their feet wet, and we won some ballgames. I'm proud of what we did here this year," 51s manager Mike Basso said. "All those guys (we promoted) ended up going up and doing a decent job for Toronto."

Nobody did a better job for the 51s this season than first baseman Randy Ruiz, who became the fifth player in the 27-year history of the Las Vegas franchise to win the Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player award -- joining outfielder Kevin McReynolds (1983), first baseman Tim Pyznarski (1986), catcher Sandy Alomar (1988, 1989), and first baseman Phil Hiatt (2001).

Despite missing the final four weeks of the PCL season, Ruiz led the league in RBIs (106), doubles (43) and extra-base hits (70), finished fourth in home runs (25) and led the 51s in batting (.320).

"That's pretty impressive for not playing the last month," Basso said. "The guy can hit, and now he's putting his craft up there in the major leagues. He's doing a decent job, and hopefully he'll get a chance to stick."

Ruiz, who also hit .320 last year to claim the International League batting crown en route to Rookie of the Year honors, was called up by the Blue Jays on Aug. 11 and is hitting .284 with six homers and 12 RBIs in 21 games for Toronto.

Outfielder Buck Coats narrowly edged Ruiz for the team lead in hits, 151-148, and he also led Las Vegas in stolen bases, with 25.

Along with Ruiz, Coats, who hit .302, was one of five full-time players to hit over .300 for the 51s, who led the league in batting (.290) for the second consecutive season.

The others were shortstop Angel Sanchez (.305), third baseman Kevin Howard (.310) and second baseman Howie Clark (.313).

Utilityman Joe Inglett hit .360 in 40 games for Las Vegas, and top prospect Travis Snider, an outfielder, batted .337 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs in 48 games.

First baseman Brian Dopirak hit .330 in 52 games for the 51s and compiled 27 homers and 102 RBIs in 139 combined games for Las Vegas and Double-A New Hampshire.

Catcher Kyle Phillips hit .300 in 76 games in his first Triple-A season and earned his first promotion to the majors on Tuesday, along with left-hander David Purcey and closer Jeremy Accardo.

Purcey (9-6) led Las Vegas in wins, strikeouts (109) and ERA (4.46), and Accardo paced the team in saves (13).

While Snider and left-hander Brett Cecil -- Toronto's top two prospects -- have seen significant action this season for the Blue Jays, 51s catcher J.P. Arencibia will have to wait until next year to make his major league debut.

He struggled at the plate this year for the first time in his life, batting just .236, but still finished with 21 homers, 75 RBIs and 32 doubles, and made big strides behind the plate.

"People have high expectations of him, but it's just his second full season in pro ball," said Dick Scott, Toronto's director of player development. "He'll come back next year and have a nice year to catapult him to the major leagues."

The 51s lost their first five games this season and fell to 6-18 before bottoming out at 26-40 after a June 16 loss to Reno. They reached the .500 mark (57-57) for the only time on Aug. 7, missing their shot to finish at .500 when they lost Monday's season finale to Portland, 5-0.

"We dug ourselves a little hole," Basso said. "But we turned it around pretty good."

Home attendance this year was 337,388, an average of 4,752 per game, down about 500 fans per game from 2008. It was the 27th straight season the team reached 300,000 in total attendance.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.