Burns is the 148th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Duluth Huskies infielder, Andy Burns, made his Major League debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, May 9, 2016. Burns is the 148th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Burns, who played collegiately at the University of Arizona, played for the Duluth Huskies in 2008 and 2009. Burns was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2011 MLB draft.
In 2008 with the Huskies, Burns hit .225 over 59 games. He also had six doubles, two home runs and 19 RBI to go along with 13 stolen bases. During the 2009 season Burns hit .245 in 61 games. He also had 11 doubles and 10 stolen bases.
Burns started his Minor League career in 2011 with the Blue Jays entrant in the Rookie Gulf Coast League. After five games he was promoted to the Vancouver Canadians in the short-season A Northwest League. In 28 games between the two clubs, he hit .250 with four doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI.
Burns spent the 2012 season in the Lo-A Midwest League with the Lansing Lugnuts. Over 78 games he hit .248 with nine home runs, 25 doubles and four triples. He also drove in 37 runs and stole 15 bases.
2013 saw Burns split time between two teams again as he began the season in Hi-A with the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League. After 64 games in Dunedin he was promoted to AA with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Between the two he hit a combined .288 with 15 home runs, 34 doubles and seven triples to go along with 33 stolen bases.
Burns spent the entire 2014 season again in AA with New Hampshire. With the Fisher Cats he hit .255 with 15 home runs, 32 doubles and 18 stolen bases.
The 2015 season saw Burns start again in New Hampshire before a promotion, after six games, to the Buffalo Bisons of the AAA International League. Burns hit a combined .291 with 26 doubles and five home runs. He also drove in 46 runs and stole six bases for the season.
Prior to his call up to the Blue Jays, Burns was in AAA with Buffalo. Over 27 games he was hitting .250 with two home runs and 10 RBI.
In his Major League debut against the San Francisco Giants, Burns entered as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning for Aaron Sanchez. Facing Giants reliever Hunter Strickland, he struck out to end the inning.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22 year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 140 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com.