New Britain Rock Cats Lose Infielder Luke Hughes, Add Infielder Brian Dinkelman

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New Britain, CT – Infielder Luke Hughes, the New Britain Rock Cats’ top player throughout the 2008 Season, was promoted yesterday to Rochester in the Triple-A International League. The 23-year-old native of Perth, Australia – signed by the Minnesota Twins in 2002 as a non-drafted free agent - enjoyed exceptional success with the Rock Cats in 2008. After a very strong start, the 5’11”/190-pound Hughes was voted the Eastern League’s Player of the Month for April, the first New Britain player to be so recognized since 2004. In June, while leading the Eastern League in several offensive categories, he was named to both the World Team for the 2008 Futures Game, and an Eastern League All-Star. In the July 16^th mid-Summer Classic in New Hampshire, Hughes hit the game-winning home run and was named the Game’s MVP. Luke was extremely versatile and, with the exception of Catcher, played every position for the Rock Cats (including Pitcher) during his nearly two years in New Britain. During the 2008 Season, Hughes appeared in 70 games for the Rock Cats. He closed his 2008 Eastern League stint with a 91 hits, a .319 BA, along with 15 Doubles, 3 Triples, 15 HRs and 40 RBI. His OBP (.385), SLG (.551) and OPS (.936) led the Rock Cats in each category.  

INF Brian Dinkelman, a 24-year-old native of Irvington, IL, returned to the Rock Cats active roster yesterday. Sidelined for nearly two weeks with a strain in his right elbow, the 5’11”/198-pound McKendree College (IL) product had appeared in 24 games for New Britain after his June call-up from Ft. Myers in the Single-A Florida State League. Dinkelman has thus far compiled a .241 BA with the 2008 Rock Cats, including 3 Doubles, 1 HR and 6 RBI. He returned to active status last night in Bowie, MD.     

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