July 29, 2024 – Southern League (SL)
Mississippi Braves Press Release

PEARL, MS – The Mississippi Braves and Farm Bureau are proud to announce that RHP Drue Hackenberg and OF Justin Dean have been named Farm Bureau Pitcher and Player of the Week for July 19-28.

Hackenberg, 22, led Minor League Baseball with 22 strikeouts from July 19-28 and set a new club record with 16 strikeouts in his July 21 start at Pensacola. In two starts, the right-handed pitcher had a 1.50 ERA (2 ER/12.0 IP), 22 strikeouts against one walk, 0.58 WHIP and a .143 opponent batting average. The Leighton, PA native became the first pitcher in Minor League Baseball to strike out 16 batters and became the 21st minor league pitcher since 2005 to record 16 or more strikeouts in a single game and the first since Matt Sauer, who totaled 17 for Double-A Somerset on Aug. 25, 2022.

The 22-year-old struckout no batters in 7.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits and retiring the final 14 Pensacola batters he faced. He broke the Braves’ 14-strikeout record previously held by Ian Anderson (June 28, 2019) and Tommy Hanson (June 25, 2008). Hackenberg threw 26 swings-and-misses — the most by a Double-A pitcher and one shy of the most in affiliated baseball, as Giants rookie Hayden Birdsong had 27.

Hackenberg was selected by Atlanta in the second round of the 2023 draft after beating out Virginia Tech.

Dean, 27, has used his speed to rewrite the Mississippi Braves’ record book over the past nine days. The Mauldin, S.C. native had four stolen bases during Sunday’s doubleheader at Montgomery and set the club record for steals in a season, breaking the previous record of 42, set in 2009 by Matt Young. Dean is in Double-A, with 44 steals in 84 games, which ranks eighth in all of Minor League Baseball. Dean’s career high for steals in a season is 47, a mark he set while playing for High-A Rome in 2019. Over his career, the outfielder has a club-record 114 stolen steals as an M-Brave. Overall, Dean has eight hits, six runs, a double, three RBIs and four walks over the past nine games.

Dean was Atlanta’s 17th round selection in 2018 out of Lenoir-Ryne (NC),

The M-Braves open a two-week homestand Tuesday night at Trustmark Park with game one of a six-game series against the Tennessee Smokies. RHP Ian Mejia starts for the M-Braves against RHP Chris Kachmar for the Smokies. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on 102.9 The Box, Bally Live and MiLB.tv.

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