Thursday, May 21, 2009

Toronto Blue Jays prospect: Brian Dopirak

The Toronto Blue Jays took a chance on 2002 2nd round draft pick Brian Dopirak last season, signing him after the Chicago Cubs released him in March of 2008. Dopirak is considered a late bloomer at age 25, but he's quickly ascending in the Jays organizational ladder and might just be knocking on the door to break into the big leagues in the next couple of years.

After Toronto signed the former Cubs minor league player of the year, they sent him to Single A Class Dunedin, where he raked big time, so much so that he was promoted to AA before the end of the campaign. In 106 games with Dunedin, Dopirak clubbed 27 home runs and added 88 RBI's before forcing the organizations hand in promoting him. This year, playing with the New Hampshire Fisher-Cats in AA, he's continued to scorch the ball, blasting 8 home runs and picking up 33 RBI in 40 games.

Two weeks ago, Dopirak had a monster game, crushing 2 home runs and piling up 8 RBI, finishing only a single short of the cycle. The big outing was good enough to earn the 1st basemen the Eastern League Player of the Week award. An elevation to AAA Las Vegas could be in the offing in the coming months, and if he continues to peak, Dopirak could find himself slipping his way into a Blue Jays uniform.