On Friday August 5, 2011 Dunedin and Toronto Blue Jays fan favorite Dustin McGowan will be making his final start for the Dunedin Blue Jays. McGowan, whom has spent the majority of July with the Dunedin Blue Jays, helping them stay afloat in the ever challenging FSL North Division, has improved greatly during his stint. Here is a quick recap of McGowan’s tenure in Dunedin and what New Hampshire and Toronto fans can soon expect.

Since July 4th, 2011, Dustin McGowan has evolved into his old self. That is to say, that McGowan has gone from a player recuperating from two serious arm injuries, to the player that was considered by many to be a future ace of the pitching staff. Despite being limited to a maximum of four innings and 40 pitches per outing, McGowan was able to accumulate amazing statistics for Toronto’s high class Single-A affiliate. For instance, in the games leading up to Friday’s final outing, McGowan has stuck out 13 batters in 12.2 innings pitched, and kept his earned run average to 3.55 through six starts.

Dustin McGowan’s most impressive outing was his last one, as he went four innings, striking out 6 and only giving up 1 run. Dunedin which as a team has been averaging five runs a game picked up McGowan with a 6 run output, to win the game 6 – 1. This ended up being McGowan’s first official win of the season, which must have boosted his confidence.

From all reports, with every outing, McGowan has gotten stronger, and the velocity in his pitches has been getting higher and higher. Meaning to say, the plan right now according to the Toronto Blue Jays management, is to see how Dustin McGowan does at New Hampshire, with the possibility of a call up to the big club in September. In theory, if McGowan can pitch at the big league level again, he may be able to reestablish himself in the Blue Jays starting rotation.

On behalf of the Jays Prospects writing team, we couldn’t be happier than the Jays didn’t give up on McGowan when the going got tough!