Goins is the 112th former Northwoods League Player to debut in MLB
Rochester, MN – Former Waterloo Buck Ryan Goins was called up by the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, August 22. Goins is the 112th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Goins, who played collegiately at Dallas Baptist University, played for the Waterloo Bucks during the 2008 season, and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 4th round of the 2009 MLB draft.
During the 2008 season with the Bucks, Goins hit .338 in 38 games. He also had 12 doubles, 2 home runs and drove in 13 runs.
Goins began his minor league career in 2009 with the Blue Jays rookie level team in the Gulf Coast League. After three games he was then promoted to Auburn in the New York-Penn League before finishing his season at Lo A in the Midwest League with the Lansing Lugnuts. Goins hit a combined .246 over 46 games.
Goins started the 2010 season in Lo A with Lansing and was promoted after 77 games to Hi A with the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League. Between the two teams he hit .271 with 3 home runs and 53 RBI. He also stole 7 bases and had 28 doubles.
In 2011 Goins spent almost the entire year in Hi A with Dunedin. He did make one appearance with the Blue Jays Gulf Coast league team as well. Goins hit .284 with 3 home runs, 5 triples, 24 doubles and had 52 RBI over 102 games.
The 2012 season saw Goins play the entire year at AA New Hampshire in the Eastern League. His numbers continued to impress as he hit .289 in 136 games. He also improved in other categories as well as he hit 7 home runs, drove in 61 runs and stole 15 bases.
Goins started the 2013 season at AAA with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. Over 111 games, before being promoted, he was hitting .257 with 6 home runs and 46 RBI.
In his Major League debut on Friday, August 23, Goins went two for four and singled for his first Major League hit against Jordan Lyles in the 7th inning. In the 9th inning Goins doubled off Astros reliever Josh Fields. Goins started the game at second base before moving over to shortstop in the bottom of the 7th inning.
The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate League in North America. The 2013 season marks the 20th season of Northwoods League baseball. 112 former players have gone on to play Major League baseball. Notable alumni of the league include Curtis Granderson (Yankees), Chris Sale (White Sox), Max Scherzer (Tigers), Josh Willingham (Twins) and Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals).